This year will mark one of the few times USC and Notre Dame haven’t battled on the gridiron in the last century, but the rivalry will soon return to their schedules.
The battle for the Jeweled Shillelagh has been a fixture on the teams’ schedules since the rivalry began in 1926, but the two teams won’t face each other in the 2026 season, marking just the second time since 1945 the game won’t be contested.
Still, the rivalry is just dormant for now, as the teams will resume competing in the 2030 season under terms of a new agreement signed this week.
According to a press release, USC and Notre Dame will resume their rivalry on Aug. 31, 2030 at the LA Coliseum in Los Angeles, with a return trip to South Bend set for Aug. 30, 2031.
The teams will then play again in 2032 and 2033, maintaining the early-in-the-season date for those games, according to the release.
Previously the teams would play in midseason in South Bend during years Notre Dame hosted the rivalry, and the teams would play the final game of the regular season against one another when the game would be hosted in Los Angeles.
According to Sports Reference, the teams have been playing each other in football since 1926, with the Fighting Irish holding an all-time series lead of 53-38-5. Notre Dame has won seven of the last eight games against the Trojans to bolster their lead.
The two teams began playing for the Jeweled Shillelagh in 1952, according to the schools.
This year’s pause in the rivalry is nearly unprecedented. Since the teams started playing in 1926, the only gaps in scheduling occurred during World War II, as the teams didn’t play between 1943 and 1945, and they also didn’t play during the COVID-impacted season in 2020.
Notre Dame will kick off its regular season on Sunday, Sept. 6, when it faces Wisconsin at Lambeau Field in Green Bay. USC, meanwhile, will get its season underway on Saturday, Aug. 29, when it faces San Jose State at the LA Coliseum.
