Notre Dame and USC agree to resume football rivalry with a 4-game series starting in 2030
Notre Dame and USC agree to resume football rivalry with a 4-game series starting in 2030
By ERIC OLSON Mon, August 3, 2026 at 8:06 PM UTC
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The Notre Dame-Southern California college football rivalry will start again in 2030.
The schools announced Monday they have agreed to a four-game home-and-home series. Notre Dame will play in Los Angeles on Aug. 31, 2030, and the Trojans will visit South Bend, Indiana, on Aug. 30, 2031. The meetings in 2032 and 2033 will be played in the first three weeks of the season.
The teams met each non-pandemic season from 1946-2025, typically in October or November, in what became known as “the greatest intersectional rivalry in college football." The exception was the 2020 season when most schools played a conference-only schedule.
The 2030 date opened up when defending national champion Indiana canceled a home-and-home series with the Irish that was scheduled for 2030 and 2031, a person with knowledge of the decision told The .
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because no official announcement had been made.
Negotiations between Notre Dame and USC to continue the annual series became challenging after the Trojans joined the Big Ten in 2024. The Trojans expressed that they did not want to play nonconference games after September. Notre Dame beat the Trojans 34-24 in South Bend last Oct. 18, and the series officially went on hiatus in December when the Irish announced they had filled the last open spot on their 2026 schedule with a game at BYU.
Notre Dame and USC first played in 1926 and the Irish lead the series 53-38-5. The series also was put on hold from 1943-45, during World War II.
The two schools have combined to win 22 national championships and produce 15 Heisman Trophy winners, and the discontinuation prompted consternation on both sides. Navy is the only team Notre Dame has played more than USC, at 98 meetings.
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Notre Dame and USC play for the Jeweled Shillelagh Trophy, a tradition which began in 1952. The Jeweled Shillelagh Trophy is presented by the Notre Dame Club of Los Angeles. Notre Dame victories are marked by green-jeweled shamrocks while USC victories are marked by ruby-jeweled Trojan heads.
“USC’s historic rivalry with Notre Dame holds a special place in the history of college football, and we are happy to resume a series that means so much to the entire Trojan Family,” USC athletic director Jen Cohen said. “It remains important for us to play this game early in the season, as it allows us to schedule competitively with our Big Ten peers and takes into account the health and best interests of our student-athletes and program. We are excited for our fans, and we look forward to more memorable matchups and unforgettable games between the Trojans and the Irish.”
The Hoosiers and Irish last met in the first CFP playoff to be held at a campus site in December 2024. Notre Dame won 27-17 in South Bend and reached the national championship game before losing to Ohio State 34-23.
In 2021, Indiana and Notre Dame agreed to what was supposed to be the first regular-season game between the two in-state schools since 1991. The Irish have won seven straight in the series with Indiana's last victory coming in 1950.
But since the arrival of coach Curt Cignetti in 2024, Indiana has not played any Power Four schools, or Notre Dame, outside the conference schedule or the playoffs. The Hoosiers drew some criticism last summer when they also canceled a scheduled home-and-home series with Virginia. Indiana responded by winning its first Big Ten title since 1967, the first national championship in school history and by becoming the first 16-0 team in major college football since the 1890s.
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AP Sports Writer Michael Marot in Indianapolis contributed to this report.
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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
Source: “AOL Sports”
