USC Athletic Director Speaks Out On Notre Dame Rivalry Game

There seems to be some substantial disagreement about the future of the rivalry between the USC Trojans and Notre Dame Fighting Irish. 

The debate started when USC head coach Lincoln Riley spoke at Big Ten media day, where he discussed the importance of scheduling to win championships in the modern era of college football.

READ: Lincoln Riley Says Alabama Scheduled For Championships, Hints At Dropping Notre Dame Rivalry

While Riley didn't outright state that he wanted the rivalry to end, it was heavily implied that USC was examining different options. Notre Dame's Athletic Director disagreed. Clearly taken aback, Pete Bevacqua told the media he intends to keep the game going as long as possible.

"We have every intention in the world and every desire to keep that USC-Notre Dame game going for as long as it possibly can," Bevacqua said to The Athletic on Monday. "Everything we’ve heard from USC and the people we’ve been talking to over the course of the last year and beyond is they’re gung ho as well."

On Friday, USC's Athletic Director Jen Cohen gave her thoughts on the rivalry on local sports radio. And while she agreed with the importance of the game, didn't exactly commit to keeping it.

"Tradition will always be important for us," Cohen said. "I think that's what separates USC from a lot of other programs, and USC-Notre Dame is a storied rivalry. One that means so much to our fans, not just here but our fans all across the country. Ultimately, we're going to do what's best for our student-athletes and you're right, things are changing but tradition is part of doing what's best too. So we're going to do what we can to honor that and evolve in this space as we go."

Caleb Williams of USC tries to avoid a pass rush by Notre Dame in 48-20 loss on Oct. 14 at Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

USC-Notre Dame Future Continues To Be Up In The Air

Cohen's statement is again unclear on where USC stands regarding the Notre Dame game. Clearly, there have been internal discussions about ending it, because anything other than an outright commitment to playing the game indefinitely implies a change in strategy.

Notre Dame's statement, for example, was unambiguous: they want to continue the series between the two teams.

Yes, USC will have harder schedules now and in the future playing in a difficult Big Ten Conference. But there's no guarantee that playing easier schedules will lead to College Football Playoff appearances either. And for a team that struggles to sell out a smaller Los Angeles Coliseum thanks to extremely overpriced and ever-increasing ticket prices, removing arguably their most popular home game every other year feels shortsighted. 

Obviously, the Trojans also can't refer to travel to South Bend as an issue, because they've now joined the Big Ten where they'll frequently play games in New Jersey, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Minnesota. 

Regardless, it doesn't sound like a decision has been made on the USC side either way. For now, the game continues. But for how long?