Notre Dame Head Coach Marcus Freeman Throws Down Gauntlet On USC Rivalry Game

The rivalry game between the USC Trojans and Notre Dame Fighting Irish is on life support. After decades of one of college football's most storied matchups being an annual ritual, the 2025 game in South Bend is currently the last confirmed one on the schedule.

And Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman spoke this week on how he feels about the SC-Irish rivalry game continuing. 

"It’s pretty black and white for me," Freeman said, per Blueandgold.com. "You want my opinion? I want to play them every single year. When? I don’t care. I don’t care when we play them. Start of the season, middle of the season, end of the season — I don’t care. I want to play USC every year because it’s great for college football."

That's a much stronger statement than anything coming from SC head coach Lincoln Riley. But does this mean we're closer to an agreement than we were a week ago? 

READ: Lincoln Riley Blasted Over Potential End Of USC-Notre Dame Rivalry

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Notre Dame Head Coach Marcus Freeman is all smiles after a touchdown during a game between Wake Forest University and University of Notre Dame at Notre Dame Stadium on November 18, 2023. (Photo by Michael Miller/ISI Photos/Getty Images)

Marcus Freeman Has The Right View On SC-Notre Dame Rivalry Game

Freeman's right; the rivalry is good for college football. It's also good for both programs. 

SC has seemingly made the case in negotiations between the two sides that with their entry into the Big Ten, traveling to Indiana every other year in the middle of the season is a tough hill to climb. And they're right. But that's also not Notre Dame's fault. 

There are two sides to every story though, and from USC's perspective, Notre Dame could, and should, accept an arrangement that sees the game played early in the season, before travel and injury attrition take their toll. Freeman's clearly fine with it, so why isn't the Notre Dame administration? 

The bottom line is that both sides need to figure this out. As soon as possible. Knocking the game off the schedule on the off chance it affects the College Football Playoff or leads to an "extra" loss would be a disaster. Both football teams benefit from the exposure, a national television event, and an increase in brand prestige resulting from playing the game annually.

Although in this day and age of college football, what makes the most sense is usually the opposite of the outcome we get. Let's hope not in this case.