Indiana Backs Out of Competition, Paves Way for Notre Dame, USC Rivalry Renewal

Notre Dame's future schedules took over the talk of college football Monday as both good news and bad news on those fronts presented themselves.

On the good side, Notre Dame and USC is back on, starting in the 2030 season. The deal announced is for four seasons, with Notre Dame starting the series by traveling to USC in 2030, before USC makes the trip to South Bend in 2031.

The other news is hardly surprising, as it was announced that Notre Dame's future matchup with Indiana, which had been set for the 2030 and 2031 seasons, has officially been cancelled.

Notre Dame Gives Into USC, Schedules Rivalry Early in Year

USC had made it clear that if it were to keep playing Notre Dame, it wanted the game to be played early in the season.

That's exactly what happened, as the 2030 meeting will be played on August 31, 2030, in Los Angeles and the return trip to South Bend will be played on August 30, 2031. The 2032 and 2033 dates aren't officially set yet, but have been agreed to be played in the first three weeks of the regular season.

Continuing the greatest intersectional rivalry in college football.#GoIrish☘️ pic.twitter.com/RZe0K4fyHq
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) August 3, 2026

It certainly comes off as Notre Dame caving to USC's demands but I'll be blatantly honest here: I don't care.

A new college football power wanted out of playing Notre Dame (more on that in a minute), which created an opening to bring USC back to the schedule.

If you want the rivalry to be played, which everyone and their mother does, then you make sure its played. OK, it's getting played earlier in the year and won't be played on rivalry weekend. That part stinks, sure, but it's better than the next four seasons when the two aren't on each others schedules at all.

Notre Dame Loses Indiana from 2030, 2031 Schedules

While Notre Dame gains USC to the schedule again, perhaps new college football powerhouse Indiana can be to thank for that.

According to Eric Hansen of Blue Gold Illustrated, Indiana was the one who asked to cancel the series.

Can confirm @PeteSampson_: Indiana's decision to cancel its home-and-home series with Notre Dame helped pave the way for the return of USC-Notre Dame in 2030.
— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) August 3, 2026

Was that enough to create the early-season opening for Notre Dame and cave into USC's wishes to play the rivalry game early in the year?

Nick Shepkowski's Quick Thoughts

Notre Dame and USC in August or early September isn't what any of us grew up watching, but guess what - it's far better than no Notre Dame vs. USC at all.

Yes, I wish every-other Thanksgiving weekend included Notre Dame playing in LA while every other mid-October saw USC taking a trip to South Bend.

If that wasn't going to happen, then this is as good as you could ask for.

And in regard to Indiana canceling - is anyone really surprised? It ditched Louisville a few years back in order to build a friendlier schedule; are we going to act like it ditching out on Notre Dame is some great surprise?

Hopefully, those two can meet again in the College Football Playoff before long - and have the same result as the last encounter.

Add us as a preferred source on Google