Top Recruit Decommits from Notre Dame's Biggest Rival

Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame are closing gap on USC's monster class

Nov 30, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley and Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman shake hands after the game at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Notre Dame and USC have a rivalry that goes back nearly 100 years. That rivalry remains intact today, but certainly appears headed to the same fate as the dinosaurs. While we await official word on that, the two remain rivals annually on the field of play through 2026, so what happens with the Trojans certainly still impacts Notre Dame.

That's why it's newsworthy for Notre Dame fans that USC lost one of its top commitments in its heralded 2026 recruiting class on Wednesday when linebacker Xavier Griffin withdrew is commitment. Griffin is rated as a five-star linebacker from Gainsville, Georgia and rates as the nation's second overall linebacker recruit in the cycle according to 247Sports.

Moments after announcing he was decommitting from USC, Griffin announced upcoming visits to a handful of powerhouse programs.

NEWS: Five-Star LB Xavier Griffin has locked in 4 Official Visits 👀

His schedule is as follows:

• Ohio State - May 30
• Alabama - June 6
• Texas - June 13
• Florida State - June 15

The No. 2 LB in the ‘26 Class decommitted from USC moments agohttps://t.co/lpmmbnDvOy pic.twitter.com/wfv44qvzhE

— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) May 14, 2025

Nick Shepkowski's Quick Takeaway:

Whether or not Notre Dame and USC play on the field or not, USC losing a big-time commitment is a good thing for the Fighting Irish. Griffin doesn't seem to have any interest in Notre Dame, and he clearly wanted to look elsewhere, something current USC general manager Chad Bowden followed Marcus Freeman lead with in not allowing committed players to do so.

The de-commitment doesn't mean USC is about to see the bottom drop out of its extremely talented recruiting class, but it does follow recent history where the Trojans have lost top talent commitments from the heart of SEC country.

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