One of college football\u2019s longest-lasting and most storied rivalries will be taking a break in 2026.<\/p>\n
After months of negotiations<\/a> and public posturing<\/a>, USC<\/a> and Notre Dame have failed to reach an agreement to continue their rivalry series.<\/p>\n \u201cUSC 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,\u201d the schools said in a joint statement they released Monday. \u201cThe rivalry between our two schools is one of the best in all of sport, and we look forward to meeting again in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n USC has now turned its focus to finding a new nonconference opponent to fill out its 2026 schedule. The earliest the two rivals could play again, a person familiar with discussions told The Times, is the 2030 season.<\/p>\n Four months ago, USC athletic director Jennifer Cohen told The Times she was \u201chopeful\u201d the two schools could come to an agreement to continue the series. <\/p>\n USC had just extended an amended offer to Notre Dame, one that accommodated its rival\u2019s desire for a multi-year agreement. The Trojans had previously been reluctant to lock in a long-term extension, given the uncertainty surrounding the future of the College Football Playoff format.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re trying to extend the series,\u201d Cohen said at the time. \u201cThis is an important series for us and for our fans and for our program, and hopefully we get to a resolution that supports and is in the best interest of our program.\u201d<\/p>\n Given the new demands of the Big Ten travel schedule, USC had hoped to move the game to the beginning of the football season. In her recent State of Troy address, Cohen noted, without mentioning Notre Dame by name, that USC wanted to \u201cplay our non-conference opponents in the Coliseum as early as possible every year.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cUSC is the only team in the Big Ten to play a nonconference road game after Week 4 in either of the past two seasons,\u201d she wrote. \u201cUSC is also the only team to play a nonconference game after Week 4 in both seasons.\u201d<\/p>\n But after appearing for months to be on track for an agreement, discussions around playing the game during Week Zero of the 2026 season broke down in recent weeks.<\/p>\n