Rece Davis Pushes for Return of Historic College Football Rivalry

Rece Davis is advocating for the return of a century-old rivalry to the college football calendar.

USC Trojans wide receiver Kyle Ford (81) carries the ball against Notre Dame Fighting Irish safety Jordan Clark (1) in the second half | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Heated rivalries are a cornerstone of college football.

Unfortunately, conference expansion has come with the price of some of these rivalries weakening or disappearing.

Oregon-Oregon State and the Apple Cup (Washington-Washington State) both weakened as the Ducks and Huskies headed for the Big Ten in 2024, while the Beavers and Cougars were relegated to the Group of Six.

The Apple Cup will be played to open the 2026 season, but Oregon and Oregon State opted not to renew their rivalry.

Bedlam disappeared from the annual rivalry week slate when Oklahoma left the Big 12 for the SEC. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State do not plan on renewing their rivalry for the foreseeable future.

However, one rivalry has been axed without conference expansion as a key reason. After playing each other annually for virtually a century, USC and Notre Dame will not meet in 2026. The only notable breaks over the rivalry's history include a three-year hiatus from 1943-45 because of World War II and a one-year hiatus in 2020 due to a global pandemic.

The breakup of the Trojans and Fighting Irish has infuriated many across the college football landscape. ESPN College GameDay host Rece Davis sounded off on the decision on a recent edition of "The College GameDay Podcast."

"What I want is USC and Notre Dame to play again. It seems that maybe people have started to think about this in the right context in putting that game back together, one would hope," Davis said. "You've got to have a game like that, you can't just let USC and Notre Dame disappear, which they did, and they shouldn't, they should fix that."

As Davis alluded to, reports have begun to surface that the two sides may be working to renew their rivalry in the years to come. However, the wait to see the Trojans and Fighting Irish square off on the gridiron again could last as many as five college football seasons.

Why college football needs Notre Dame-USC

Notre Dame safety Adon Shuler, left, knocks the ball out of the hand of Southern California wide receiver Makai Lemon (6) | MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Notre Dame's status as an independent has created a challenging conundrum for other teams and administrations in the College Football Playoff era. The Fighting Irish have a Memorandum of Understanding with the College Football Playoff committee that will automatically put them in the 12-team field if they finish among the 12 best teams in the committee's rankings.

Other college football programs view the Memorandum of Understanding as akin to a spoiled child getting anything they want from their parents, so they are more reluctant to schedule games against Notre Dame. But if prominent college football programs are actively avoiding Notre Dame because of this, they inadvertently give Notre Dame what it wants.

Seven of Notre Dame's 10 games against Power Four competition in 2026 are against teams that finished 2025 with a losing record. The Fighting Irish travel to BYU as a replacement for USC on Oct. 17, and they will host Miami on Nov. 7. The path to a College Football Playoff appearance is not a complicated one.

On the flip side, USC wants a College Football Playoff berth more than anything in 2026. Unlike the SEC, the Big Ten lacks any mandate for a Power Four team or Notre Dame to appear on each team's non-conference slate, so the Trojans can waltz through the first three weeks of the season before conference play.

From a rivalry standpoint, UCLA is the only true rival for USC in the Big Ten. Washington and Oregon are traditional foes, but those two do not carry the same weight as Stanford or Notre Dame for the Trojans.