Is the Notre Dame-USC rivalry under threat as Marcus Freeman & Co. announce the Clemson series?

As Notre Dame announced a new 12-year-long series against Clemson on Tuesday, fans are wondering if the school's rivalry with USC can survive that long. The series with the Tigers is supposed to replace the Fighting Irish's regular season series with the Trojans, as it starts as the other ends in 2026.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish v University of Southern California - Source: Getty

If USC's athletic director Jennifer Cohen's comments to The Athletic in February are anything to go by, fans shouldn't keep their hopes up about the historic rivalry continuing in the short term.

"We're now playing in a conference where we fly back and forth across the country every other week," Cohen said.

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

The series has been ongoing since 1926, so its suspension for a decade would be a significant change in Notre Dame's yearly schedule. If the Clemson series is set to supersede the USC one, fans should not expect to watch the rivalry until 2038.

From USC's perspective, one has to wonder if the series is still worth it. Having moved to the Big Ten, the conference that has won the national title the last two years, it already faces some of the toughest conference rivals week in and week out.

This could be the question the program has: Why make the schedule more difficult by adding a game against Notre Dame?

Marcus Freeman speaking about the USC & Notre Dame rivalry in 2022: Throwback

If there's anyone who understood the importance of the USC-Notre Dame rivalry as soon as he arrived in South Bend, it was Marcus Freeman.

“It’s a rivalry for us and what a huge rivalry," Freeman said in November 2022, via 'SportsCenter.' "I’m still learning. I think last year, my first year here, I knew it was a rivalry. It was during the middle of the season, but now it’s the last game of the year. Me being the head coach, you really try to study up on the history. It’s a long lasting rivalry that has gone back to the 1920s and has played over 90 times. I want our plays to know about and understand the rivalry. You don’t have to turn on the film to realize it’s a great opponent we’re going to play on Saturday.”

That year was Freeman's only victory over the Trojans while in charge of Notre Dame. 2021, 2023 and 2024 all brought defeats to the Fighting Irish against their rival. The best he can hope for is to end with a 3-3 overall record against them, as the rivalry likely won't resume after the 2026 season.