Both Notre Dame and USC often describe their rivalry as “the longest intersectional rivalry in college football.”
That is not precise. It is the only intersectional rivalry in college football.
The only other nominees are Army vs. Air Force and Navy vs. Air Force, but the service academy matchups bear more of an intrasectional ethos than an intersectional one, with those three programs filling a singular space.
One thing is certain: even as the very premise of the United States government is currently on a literal timeout, Army and Navy will both continue playing Air Force.
The same cannot be said of Notre Dame and USC. If the Trojans’ weakest impulses win out, this rivalry will end after this weekend's college football picks, a year short of its 100th anniversary.
Notre Dame's Last Laugh?
- Trojan Cowardice
- Notre Dame -9.5 (-115 at FanDuel)
- Under 60.5 (-105 at FanDuel)
- CJ Carr anytime touchdown (+220 at FanDuel)
Trojan Cowardice
All things in college football are about money — USC recognizing the Pac-12’s impending death and thus jumping to the Big Ten stemmed entirely from mismanaged moneys in the pandemic; and that move is the basis of the Trojans’ current surface-level cowardice — but how foolish must someone be to let one of the biggest rivalries in sports die a year short of its 100th anniversary?
The merchandise from next year’s game alone would help pay a significant chunk of the $11 million Lincoln Riley will be owed for the season. And it is his paycheck and ego that are killing this piece of college football more than anything.
All college football fans—from Oklahoma fans to Notre Dame fans to Georgia Southern fans—all college football fans should be throwing shade at USC for wanting to end the Notre Dame-USC rivalry.
— Douglas Farmer (@D_Farmer) October 15, 2025
Let's hope Notre Dame Stadium throws that shade loudly, repeatedly and insultingly. https://t.co/j1r2f4db4I pic.twitter.com/KMMksLerZc
Riley left Oklahoma for USC in some part — some college football realities are repeated so many times without anyone disputing them that the countering silence proves them truths — because he did not relish the idea of competing in the SEC.
Now, the Trojans worry that a mid-October trip to South Bend every year will ruin their College Football Playoff hopes while competing in the ruthless Big Ten. That trip means this series benefits “only one” side of the rivalry.
With the last scheduled USC-Notre Dame game set for Saturday in South Bend, Lincoln Riley reiterated today that he hopes to continue the rivalry.
— Ryan Kartje (@RyanKartje) October 16, 2025
“Hopefully we can find a way to get that done, where it makes sense for both sides and not just one,” Riley said.
Isn’t it nice that USC thinks it has to worry about the College Football Playoff under Riley? The Trojans have lost 12 games and counting in the last three seasons. They had a losing record in the Big Ten last year.
At 5-1 right now, USC still has trips to Notre Dame, Nebraska, and Oregon to navigate, needing to finish no worse than 10-2 to even sniff the Playoff.
Note: FanDuel sets the odds of the Trojans reaching the Playoff at a lofty +470.
Related: The Irish are 9.5-point favorites this weekend, with some books dabbling at -10 this week.
Losing to Notre Dame is not why USC keeps missing the Playoff.
Riley’s inability to put together a stout defense is. The Trojans’ refusal to acknowledge they are well outside the top four of the Big Ten is.
If Penn State figures out its next hire, USC might be competing to finish No. 6 in the Big Ten, at best.
But sure, a middling Big Ten team should let its pride end the only intersectional rivalry in college football, one dating back to Knute Rockne making this a nationwide sport, one that has featured such iconic moments as the green jersey reveal behind a wooden Trojan Horse in 1977, No. 1 Notre Dame topping No. 2 USC in 1988 to reach the brink of a national championship and, 20 years ago this month, the Bush Push.
Do not mistake this for one moment. Notre Dame has been blunt all along.
The Irish want this series to continue and are making an effort to make the scheduling work for the Trojans amid their (not) unique and (self-inflicted) challenging schedule demands in the Big Ten.
Those demands obviously stand next to the 2020 pandemic and World War II, the only other times this series has not been played in the last 99 years.
To USC, those demands can be quelled only by Netflix’s money flying in the face of four different television contracts. That the Trojans even entertained that laughable thought shows just how pathetic it is that they may abandon this rivalry after 99 years.
Oh. Could Lincoln be getting his wish... 🤔 https://t.co/YNH3v7fN5N
— Tim Murray (@1TimMurray) October 16, 2025
Notre Dame did this itself once, ending an annual series with Michigan in 2014 to ease the scheduling of a partnership with the ACC. The Wolverines responded by playing the chicken dance on the stadium speakers as the Irish lost in 2013.
It cannot be said Notre Dame got the last laugh with its 31-0 win in 2014, as that was not the last; the two revived the series in 2018 and 2019 and already have future plans in place.
The Irish needed a temporary reprieve.
USC needs to be honest with itself. It is not among college football’s elite.
Losing to Notre Dame may be the closest the Trojans get to the Playoff in the 2020s. The Irish have won six of the last seven meetings, losing only in Marcus Freeman’s debut season in 2022.
Freeman has since won the last two games by a combined score of 97-55. Maybe that is what Lincoln Riley meant by this series benefiting “only one” side.
USC vs Notre Dame best bets
🏈Spread: Notre Dame -9.5
This is, in some part, a bet on Freeman venting some frustration with former Notre Dame GM Chad Bowden and an offseason spent hearing Bowden speak ill of the Irish and praising Riley as the best coach he has worked with.
Freeman keeps an even keel in public, unless he is talking to a ref on the sideline, but there is very much a competitor’s edge to him. He has undoubtedly reminded his roster how Bowden dismissed it all summer.
Frankly, USC hiring Bowden was seen as a significant investment by the program that should elevate it to Playoff contention, but how many more three-loss seasons can Riley endure to give Bowden’s recruiting enough time to have an impact?
Freeman would delight in testing that limit.
On the field, Notre Dame’s greatest edge comes from its defense, which has rounded into form after struggling to start the season. The Irish allow down-by-down success but limit big plays.
USC relies on explosive plays offensively. Notre Dame’s secondary, led by likely All-American cornerback Leonard Moore, could ruin that hope.
🏈Total: Under 60.5
Without starting center Ashton Craig, the Irish offense could struggle a bit early.
USC’s running backs room has been decimated by injury, which could allow Notre Dame to tilt its defense toward pass rush, and the Irish very much have the defensive ends and linebackers to apply pressure on Jayden Maaiva.
Maaiva has a bad habit of turning pressures into ugly sacks, with USC ranking No. 128 in the country in expected points lost per sack, per CFB-graphs.com. E
Each sack Maaiva takes will carry much of the punitive effect of an interception thrown to Moore.
🏈Prop pick: CJ Carr Touchdown
Notre Dame has a couple reasons to take it to USC this weekend.
— Douglas Farmer (@D_Farmer) October 17, 2025
The Trojans' cowardice.
Chad Bowden's mouth.
Playoff hopes.
Soooooo ... let's find a CJ Carr touchdown, well over +200 at @FDSportsbook. https://t.co/d2bOwmQ7cO pic.twitter.com/5PxrYJbUSl
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change.
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