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Game on? USC, Notre Dame renew football rivalry discussions

Nypost · · 302 words · By Ben Bolch
open_in_new Read the original article: https://nypost.com/2026/05/11/sports/usc-notre-dame-renew-college-football-rival…

fact_checkFact-Check Results

9 claims extracted and verified against multiple sources including cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia.

info Single Source 4
check_circle Corroborated 4
verified Verified By Reference 1
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“USC and Notre Dame have resumed discussions to re-start their football series after negotiations broke down late last year, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times.”
SINGLE SOURCE
While web results confirm that the USC-Notre Dame rivalry was halted due to collapsed negotiations, there is no specific evidence in the provided search results confirming a recent 'resumption' of discussions reported by the Los Angeles Times. The evidence focuses on the collapse of the series.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Los Angeles General Medical Center (also known as LA General and formerly known as Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center, County/USC, County General or by the abbreviation LAC+USC) is a 600-bed public…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_General_Medical_Ce…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Los Angeles Times is an American daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Times
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Los Angeles Times Building refers to five buildings that have housed the Los Angeles Times offices since 1881. The fourth site, Times Mirror Square, is currently composed of four structures but in the…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Times_Building
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“One of the primary issues that forced the stoppage of the series – the Fighting Irish’s unwillingness to play the game earlier in the season – may no longer be a problem after Notre Dame officials have shown a willingness to back off that stance, according to the report in The Times.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided evidence does not mention the specific scheduling conflict regarding 'earlier in the season' or Notre Dame's willingness to change that stance. This detail appears to be specific to the original report and is not corroborated by the other search results.
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web search NEUTRAL — The Notre Dame Fighting Irish and USC Trojans will not meet on the gridiron during the regular season for the second time in 80 years. The storied college football rivalry ran continuously from 1946 t…
https://networknews.info/notre-dame-usc-talking-about-revivi…
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web search NEUTRAL — Notre Dame just lost a road game against a veteran quarterback. It lost to a Miami program that had been building toward a night like this since Mario Cristobal was hired the same offseason that Notre…
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6589097/2025/09/01/notre-da…
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web search NEUTRAL — Notre Dame alumni will fill the Los Angeles Regional Food bank, just as they will help fill Memorial Coliseum, just as IU filled the Rose Bowl down the road in Pasadena, which is where this story star…
https://www.aol.com/doyel-notre-dame-visits-usc-095038387.ht…
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“USC wanted the game played early in the season during the nonconference portion of its schedule, which was a nonstarter for Notre Dame.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided evidence does not contain details regarding USC's specific request for an early nonconference date or Notre Dame's rejection of that specific request.
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web search NEUTRAL — It plays home games at the 77,622-capacity Notre Dame Stadium, located near South Bend in Notre Dame, Indiana. Notre Dame is one of two schools that compete as an independent at the National Collegiat…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notre_Dame_Fighting_Irish_foot…
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web search NEUTRAL — Notre Dame remains undefeated with a dominating victory at Oklahoma.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qi3tyg1m0tI
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web search NEUTRAL — What this means for Notre Dame. If Herbstreit is correct, that could be a significant blow to Notre Dame's future scheduling efforts as an independent. The Irish are set to play Miami again in 2026, a…
https://www.si.com/college/notredame/football/will-teams-shy…
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“Another issue that reportedly did not sit well with Trojans officials was the agreement that Notre Dame had struck with the College Football Playoff assuring the Irish a playoff berth if they finished in the top 12 of the final rankings.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources (247Sports and other web results) discuss the controversy surrounding Notre Dame's memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the CFP regarding a top-12 playoff berth and its potential role in the breakdown of negotiations with USC.
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web search NEUTRAL — Notre Dame's potential automatic bid for finishing as a top-12 team has been controversial, potentially meaning another at-large bid ranked higher than them will miss out on the CFP.
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/25337028-why-usc-reporte…
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web search NEUTRAL — The storied rivalry between USC and Notre Dame football is on hiatus for at least through 2029 after the two schools fail to reach a scheduling agreement.
https://www.latimes.com/sports/newsletter/2025-12-23/blame-f…
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web search NEUTRAL — Did a memorandum of understanding guaranteeing the Fighting Irish a playoff berth if they finish in the top 12 blow out negotiations between Notre Dame and USC to extend the longstanding rivalry?
https://247sports.com/college/notre-dame/article/report-did-…
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“After Notre Dame refused to accept USC’s final offer to continue the series in December, the Fighting Irish announced a new nonconference series with Brigham Young as a replacement for the Trojans.”
CORROBORATED
Web results confirm that the USC series ended and that Notre Dame subsequently scheduled games with other opponents, specifically mentioning that the 'game came together after Notre Dame’s USC series ended and BYU lost Cal as an opponent'.
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web search NEUTRAL — Notre Dame has made first-time opponents and SEC clashes a future scheduling priority. Auburn checks both boxes.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6781312/2025/11/05/notre-da…
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web search NEUTRAL — Notre Dame first faced Stanford in 1925, but the annual series did not begin until 1988. The Irish and Cardinal have butted heads every season since then, with three exceptions: 1995-96 and 2020, the …
https://www.on3.com/teams/notre-dame-fighting-irish/news/not…
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web search NEUTRAL — The Shamrock Series brings Notre Dame to Lambeau Field for the first time, in only the third college football game ever played at the historic venue.The game came together after Notre Dame’s USC serie…
https://www.thebiglead.com/10-best-non-conference-college-fo…
verified
“As part of a series that started in 1926, USC had traditionally played Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., during the second or third Saturday of October.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
The TikTok source and other web results confirm the series started in 1926 and ran continuously (with rare exceptions). While the specific 'second or third Saturday of October' isn't explicitly in the snippet, the 1926 start date is a widely accepted historical fact for this rivalry.
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web search NEUTRAL — USC students and athletes are known as Trojans, epitomized by the Trojan Shrine, nicknamed "Tommy Trojan", near the center of campus. Until 1912, USC students (especially athletes) were known as Fight…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Southern_Califor…
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web search NEUTRAL — USC is one of the world's leading research universities. At USC, the human spirit is cultivated through learning, research and creativity.
https://www.usc.edu/
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web search NEUTRAL — From all-star academics to A-list student experiences, the University of South Carolina is the place to launch your next chapter.
https://sc.edu/
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“When the Fighting Irish traveled to Los Angeles to face the Trojans, the game was usually played the Saturday after Thanksgiving.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided evidence confirms games were played in Los Angeles, but does not explicitly verify the 'Saturday after Thanksgiving' pattern for all home games in LA.
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web search NEUTRAL — Notre Dame and USC have played each other every single since 1926 only pausing the series due to WW2 and Covid. They are set to play this season but have no future matchups scheduled following this ye…
https://www.tiktok.com/discover/notre-dame-vs-usc-rivalry-hi…
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web search NEUTRAL — USC has one win in seven games over a team with a winning record. Michigan is its only Big Ten victory over a team with a Big Ten win this season. On Saturday, missed opportunities and mistakes piled …
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6729981/2025/10/19/usc-notr…
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web search NEUTRAL — Notre Dame earned a trip to the BCS national-championship game on Saturday night by beating the University of Southern California in Los Angeles 22-13.
https://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/2012/11/26/how-notre-dam…
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“USC and Notre Dame will not play this season for the first time since the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources confirm that the series has been halted and that the only previous interruptions were WWII and the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.
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web search NEUTRAL — USC students and athletes are known as Trojans, epitomized by the Trojan Shrine, nicknamed "Tommy Trojan", near the center of campus. Until 1912, USC students (especially athletes) were known as Fight…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Southern_Califor…
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web search NEUTRAL — USC is one of the world's leading research universities. At USC, the human spirit is cultivated through learning, research and creativity.
https://www.usc.edu/
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web search NEUTRAL — Learn about USC's student population, admission rate, freshman profile, endowment, research funding, financial aid awarded and campus locations.
https://www.usc.edu/we-are-usc/the-university/facts-and-stat…
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“The last time they had not played one another before that was during World War II.”
CORROBORATED
Web results explicitly state that the only previous times the games were not played were during World War II and the COVID-19 pandemic.
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.