USC coach Lincoln Riley said Monday if Notre Dame “lived up to their word,” the two longtime rivals would be playing in 2026.

At an Alamo Bowl news conference, Riley was asked about the storied annual rivalry being placed on pause after the two sides could not agree to terms regarding a game in 2026. With the exception of 2020 and three seasons during World War II in the 1940s, the Trojans and Fighting Irish have played each other every year since 1926.

“The fact is very, very clear and this could all be settled very quickly: Had Notre Dame lived up to their word and played us anytime, anywhere, we would be playing them the next two years and looking ahead after that and hopefully continuing the series,” Riley said. “They did not follow through on it, thus we are not playing them the next couple years. We’re hopeful something can be worked out in the future. That would be fantastic. We at SC would love for the game to continue and we have no problem following through on our promises in the future.”

USC has not said much publicly since the news broke last week. Over the past two years, the Trojans’ leaders have been non-committal about the series. Riley’s words on Monday count as USC’s strongest toward the Trojans’ longtime rival.

The two schools issued a joint statement last week: “USC and Notre Dame recognize how special our rivalry is to our fans, our teams, and college football, and our institutions will continue working towards bringing back The Battle for the Jeweled Shillelagh. The rivalry between our two schools is one of the best in all of sport, and we look forward to meeting again in the future.”

Lincoln Riley’s full comment on the #USC-Notre Dame rivalry game ending:

“Had Notre Dame lived up to their word and played us anytime, anywhere we’d be playing them the next two years.” @ThePeristyle pic.twitter.com/bhSc94WfYI

— Chris Treviño (@ChrisNTrevino) December 29, 2025

The Trojans had proposed that the game be played early in the season, potentially at a neutral site, since they now play a Big Ten schedule, which features more cross-country travel.

Last Monday, the Fighting Irish announced a two-year series with BYU that essentially put an end to any hopes the rivalry would be played in 2026.

“It’s pretty simple. We both worked for months to try to find a solution,” Riley said. “Notre Dame was very vocal about the fact they would play us anytime, anywhere. Obviously, them not having a conference affiliation gives them an ability to be pretty flexible with their scheduling. Jen Cohen, our AD, went back to Notre Dame roughly a couple weeks ago with a scenario and a proposal that would extend the series for the next two years, and we took Notre Dame at their word they would play us anytime, anywhere.