College football is in the midst of a seismic shift, and no other region has been impacted by its tremors like the West Coast. The Pac-12 — long recognized as the preeminent brand of football west of the Rockies — will cease to exist as we know it on Aug. 2. Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington are headed off to the Big Ten. Cal and Stanford will enter the ACC and Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah join up with the Big 12.
As the league’s teams load up on separate busses and depart for different corners of the country, you can’t help but feel like the West Coast is losing some of its football identity in the process. It still feels weird to know we won’t be able to tune in to a conference known for wide-open offenses with outstanding quarterback play and games that stretch late into the night (or in some cases, early the next morning).
We haven’t even had time to properly grieve the death of the Pac-12 (in its original form, at least), and now it seems the axe may be looming over yet another West Coast tradition. At Big Ten Media Days, USC coach Lincoln Riley cast some doubt on the future of the Trojans’ annual rivalry game against Notre Dame.
“There (have) been a lot of teams that sacrifice rivalry games,” Riley told reporters. “I’m not saying that’s what’s going to happen, but as we get into this playoff structure and if it changes or not, we get into this new conference, we’re going to learn some about this as we go and what the right and best track is to winning a national championship.”
The USC-Notre Dame rivalry doesn’t belong exclusively to the West Coast, but there’s no doubt that it has a specific West Coast flavor. Legend has it that the idea for a home-and-home series between two of college football’s most iconic brands began as a reason for Bonnie Rockne — wife of legendary Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne — to enjoy a California vacation every two years.
Whether that legend is true or not is of little consequence, because the Irish and Trojans clashing on the gridiron was instantly electric. Rockne called the first meeting — a hard-fought 13-12 Notre Dame victory in Los Angeles — the greatest game he ever saw. The next year (a 7-6 Notre Dame victory) reportedly saw more than 120,000 fans pack into Soldier Field in Chicago to welcome the Trojans to town — still one of the largest crowds ever to see a college football game.
From the coaching rivalry between USC’s John McKay and Notre Dame’s Ara Parseghian to the “Bush Push” leading the No. 1 Trojans to a win over the upset-minded Irish in 2005, the rivalry has featured Heisman Trophy winners, national champions and more college football greats than we have time to name. It is more than just a contest between two of college football’s bluebloods, it’s a clash of cultures that helps define the sport.
The last few paragraphs read a bit like an obituary, but it’s important to remember there’s still hope for this rivalry. While it’s clear Riley wants to see the Trojans create an easier path to the CFP, he also understands the value of a marquee nonconference game. The USC coach pointed to Nick Saban’s scheduling philosophy at Alabama as a potential mold for future slates.
“They (Alabama) didn’t schedule for their fans,” Riley said. “They scheduled to win championships. My hope is we can do the best thing, schedule to win championships. And (if) that includes a rivalry game, then for all that comes with that and all that it means.”
What the fans want and what’s best for the Trojans’ national title hopes don’t have to be mutually exclusive. With the CFP expanding from four to 12, a marquee nonconference loss is far from a death knell to a contender’s playoff hopes. On the other side, a win in one of those games can boost a team into the postseason tournament.
Riley should know this well. It happened in his first year at Oklahoma when the Sooners used a blockbuster nonconference victory over Ohio State as a springboard to a 2017 CFP berth. For an even more recent example, just look at the Trojans’ 2022 win over Notre Dame. It was a valuable resume booster that likely would have helped vault USC into the CFP had it not lost to Utah in the Pac-12 title game.
All of this doesn’t even take into account the recruiting boost the USC-Notre Dame game provides for both programs. A guaranteed spotlight game on the Saturday after Thanksgiving is an easy selling point to recruits that shouldn’t be lightly discarded.
The Irish and Trojans are locked into at least three more meetings through 2026. As Riley said, USC — along with the rest of college football — is still learning about new playoff structure as they go. That means we still have time. Here’s hoping the decision-makers at both universities take into account the mutual benefit this rivalry provides and keep it going for the foreseeable future.
It would be a shame to lose yet another staple of West Coast college football.
MORE: Lincoln Riley saying right things, but time to win big in Los Angeles has arrived
