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The USC vs. Notre Dame football rivalry has hit the pause button.
The Trojans and Irish were working on an extension for the 2026 season to continue the Jeweled Shillelagh rivalry. That never materialized.
However, Notre Dame worked quickly to fill that opening.
What we know:
The Irish and Trojans had been on a crash course for the last few months.
Notre Dame and USC had been in conversations about moving the game from its usual time. When the two played at Notre Dame Stadium, the game played in mid-October; When the two played at the Rose Bowl, the game played in late November on the last week of the regular season.
According to reports, USC wanted to move the game from either of its usual dates to earlier in the season. The Athletic reported USC proposed moving the game to a neutral site.
Notre Dame and USC couldn't come to an agreement in the end. That means the storied rivals will not play in 2026 and beyond. According to Yahoo Sports, the two sides are aiming to restart the rivalry in 2030.
Notre Dame leads the all-time series against USC 51-37-5.
In the wake of that, Notre Dame needed to fill their schedule with another game. However, when USC fell off the schedule it took one of the best opponents off the schedule for 2026 who could have been a major data point for the Irish in terms of reaching the 2026 College Football Playoff.
Enter: BYU.
The Irish scheduled a home-and-home deal with the Cougars for 2026 and 2027 to fill the opening left by USC. Notre Dame will play in Provo in 2026, and the Irish will host BYU in 2027.
The time and date of the game will be announced, but the earliest the two sides could play would be in October. Notre Dame's 2026 schedule is full in September.
The two sides aren't strangers to each other. The two have played each other nine previous times. The Irish lead the all-time series 7-2.
Notre Dame has played BYU mostly at home, and one of the Cougars' two wins against the Irish came in Provo in 2004. Notre Dame played BYU in the 2022 season in the Shamrock Series at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. The Irish upset the No. 16-ranked Cougars 28-20.
BYU finished the regular season ranked No. 12, one spot behind Notre Dame at No. 11. BYU fell one spot from No. 11 to No. 12 after losing to Texas Tech in the Big 12 Championship game. That led the committee to swap Notre Dame and Miami at No. 11 and No. 10 based on the head-to-head game the Irish lost to the Hurricanes in Week 1.
Efven though the Cougars and Irish were in the top 12, the two teams missed out on the College Football Playoff in 2025 due to Tulane and James Madison being the highest-ranked conference champions.
What's next:
This means the Notre Dame-USC rivalry game is on an indefinite hiatus.
The two programs released a joint statement on Monday addressing the two sides struggling to some to an agreement for the 2026 season.
"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," the joint statement read.
For USC, this means filling a spot on their schedule around the Big Ten Conference games they'll play in 2026.
For Notre Dame, it took a premiere team off its 2026 schedule. However, the Irish worked fast and added BYU. A team that was on the cusp of the College Football Playoff in 2025 – and ranked higher than USC in the final polls – will become one of two focal points for Notre Dame.
As it stands, though, the Irish need to fill one more spot on their 2026 schedule to reach 10 games.
Notre Dame football 2026 schedule
Sept. 6: Wisconsin (Lambeau Field)
Sept. 12: Rice
Sept. 19: Michigan State
Sept. 26: at Purdue
Oct. 3: at North Carolina
Oct. 31: Navy
Nov. 7: Miami
Nov. 21: Boston College
TBA: at BYU
TBA: SMU
TBA: at Syracuse
Open schedule spots remaining: 1