USC Trojans vs. Notre Dame Schedule Update: Prime Time Kickoff

The USC Trojans game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish has been scheduled to kickoff at 4:30 p.m. PT on Oct. 18. As expected with Notre Dame's lucrative TV contract, the game will be broadcast live on NBC.

The Fighting Irish are coming off a 2024 season in which Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman led his team to the National Championship before falling to the Ohio State Buckeyes. The Trojans, on the other hand, are still considered to be rebuilding under coach Lincoln Riley. Will this iteration of the storied rivalry game be a ranked matchup?

According to early preseason polls, Notre Dame is expected to begin the year as a top-ranked team, while USC is ranked below No. 20 or not ranked at all. However, the mid-October game will give both the Fighting Irish and the Trojans an opportunity to prove themselves as contenders in 2025.

Oct 14, 2023; South Bend, Indiana, USA; USC Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley and Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman chat before the game at Notre Dame Stadium. | Matt Cashore-Imagn Images

With the Trojans joining the Big Ten and the criteria for the College Football Playoff constantly changing, some doubts surfaced of USC and Notre Dame continuing their historic rivalry. Trojans athletic director Jen Cohen spoke to The Athletic about the tradition and gave an uncertain answer about the future.

"It's such an important series to our fans and both universities. I've said this before and I'll say it again: In an ideal world, we're going to keep playing each other," Cohen said to The Athletic.

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"With that being said, the landscape has changed dramatically. We're now playing in a conference where we fly back and forth across the country every week, and College Football Playoff expansion and how you get access to the CFP and how things are seeded and selected. Those, to me, are important, unanswered questions," Cohen continued.

The Trojans experienced their first season of the Big Ten, traveling across the country multiple times for conference games. As an independent team, Notre Dame is no stranger to the travel, but the dialogue surrounding College Football Playoff expansion might decrease the importance of strength of schedule. Will the programs decide to end the storied rivalry in order to increase their chances at making the postseason every year?

As of now, USC and Notre Dame do not have any meetings scheduled past the 2026 season. Will that be the final time that the Jeweled Shillelagh is up for grabs in the regular season?

"So we remain in conversations with Notre Dame about the series. I think we're clear to each other (that) we're going to evaluate what's best, and it's my job to evaluate what's best for our student-athletes and our program."

In his career at USC, Riley is 1-2 against Notre Dame. Riley has not beaten the Fighting Irish since the 2022 season, his first year with the the program and former Trojans quarterback Caleb Williams' first season in Southern California.