Why the USC-Notre Dame rivalry being paused hits especially hard

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Earlier this week, it was reported that, for the time being at least, the storied USC-Notre Dame football rivalry is coming to a close. After facing off practically every season for nearly a century, the two schools will reportedly not meet again until 2030 at the earliest.

Obviously, this is incredibly sad news, not just for USC, but for all of college football. However, it hit me particularly hard, because this rivalry was my first real exposure to USC football.

Growing up on the East Coast with no connection to USC, I did not really watch the Trojans unless they were playing in a high-profile national game. Having come of age during the sanctions years of the 2010s, unfortunately USC was not playing in very many of those at the time.

Hence, the first USC game that I ever watched was on November 24, 2012 when the Trojans hosted Notre Dame. The Irish were one win away from the BCS Championship Game, the Coliseum was sold out, and College GameDay was in town.

A few months earlier, USC had been the preseason No. 1 team in the country, and star quarterback Matt Barkley was on the cover of Sports Illustrated Kids. (I still have the copy, by the way.) So naturally, I was surprised to learn that Barkley was out with a season-ending injury, the Trojans were unranked, and the Irish were now ranked No. 1. This was my introduction to the USC-Notre Dame rivalry.

As previously mentioned, I had no connection to USC at the time. However, I was watching with my grandfather, who had attended Michigan State and had taught me to hate Notre Dame. So naturally, I rooted for the Trojans, and was rather disappointed when they lost 22-13.

Nearly seven years later, I would make the decision to attend USC and started following the Trojans full-time. While I have watched many USC games since then, and hope to watch many more, I will always remember that 2012 game as the first time that I saw USC play.

That is one of the reasons that the recent news about the USC-Notre Dame rivalry ending hit me so hard. That rivalry was my first exposure to USC football. To me, the series will always be one of the things that makes USC such a special program.

In 2022, I finally got to attend my first USC-Notre Dame game in-person. The following year, I was lucky enough to be able to travel to South Bend and watch the Trojans play there. Regardless of what the future holds for the rivalry, those are special memories that I will always cherish.

If you could go back in time and speak to eleven year-old Adam watching the USC-Notre Dame rivalry for the first time, he never would have imagined that his path led him to attend one of those schools and get to experience the rivalry in-person. However, he still would have been sad to know that, after nearly a century, one of the great series in college football history is coming to an end.

This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Why USC football ending rivalry vs Notre Dame hits Adam Bradford hard

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