USC vs. Notre Dame Pause Opens Door For Former Pac-12 Rivalry

The USC Trojans vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish rivalry is paused amid a scheduling disagreement, opening the door for USC to revive an old Pac-12 rivalry instead.

Nov 7, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley watches game action against the Northwestern Wildcats during the second half at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

With the USC Trojans vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish rivalry heading into a temporary pause, the Trojans might have an obvious solution to fill the gap in their schedule: reigniting an old California classic between USC and the Stanford Cardinal. The Trojans and Cardinal spent more than a century shaping West Coast football before the rivalry was shelved by conference realignment rather than apathy.

With USC moving to the Big Ten and Stanford headed to the ACC, the annual matchup disappeared in 2024 as collateral damage of the Pac-12’s collapse. Now, with USC–Notre Dame on ice, the timing to revive USC–Stanford suddenly makes sense again. The Notre Dame pause did not happen in a vacuum. After months of negotiations, USC and Notre Dame failed to reach an agreement on playing what would have been the 97th game in the series in 2026, with scheduling logistics and College Football Playoff implications ultimately derailing talks that appeared close to resolution.

Why USC–Stanford Fits the Modern Game

Aug 30, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley reacts during the game against the Missouri State Bears at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Unlike Notre Dame, Stanford offers conference alignment without as many postseason question marks. A Big Ten vs. ACC matchup checks every modern box: playoff credibility, television value, and scheduling logic. It preserves tradition while operating cleanly within the College Football Playoff framework.

Notre Dame’s independence has long been a point of pride and a source of tension. The CFP has repeatedly accommodated the Irish, most recently through a memorandum of understanding that effectively guarantees Notre Dame playoff access if it finishes inside the top 12. That safety net does not exist for conference-bound programs navigating deeper league schedules. Independence is a choice. It also comes with consequences.

From USC’s perspective, the hesitation is not about tradition, it is about incentives. Adding a late-season non-conference game against an independent program with a protected playoff pathway introduces risk without clear reward. Stanford, by contrast, provides a high-quality opponent with shared structural stakes.

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A Rivalry Worth Reviving

Sep 9, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley (right) talks with university president Carol Folt after the game against the Stanford Cardinal at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

USC–Stanford is one of the West Coast’s oldest rivalries, dating back 118 years. USC leads the all-time series 65-34-3, including the vacated but widely acknowledged 2005 victory. The matchup produced conference title games, Heisman performances, and genuine postseason stakes across multiple eras.

Stanford dominated USC in the 2015 Pac-12 Championship Game behind Christian McCaffrey. USC responded in 2017, beating Stanford for its lone Pac-12 title of the past 14 years, with Sam Darnold authoring the final signature chapter of his career.

The most recent meeting came on Sept. 9, 2023, a 56-10 USC rout that felt like both a farewell to a storied rivalry and a warning shot to Big Ten by the Trojans as realignment reshaped the sport.

“This is potentially the last SC-Stanford game for a while,” Lincoln Riley said after the last matchup. “And this was a series … in recent years, had kinda went a little bit of a different way. So I’m really, kind of big-picture, proud of to be able to get kind of the final last two here.”

The Bigger Picture

Nov 30, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley reacts against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the second half at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

While the loss of another rivalry is worth lamenting, and skepticism toward the sport’s leadership remains justified, USC’s position is understandable. USC-Stanford still fits the modern game. USC-Notre Dame, for now, does not.