Los Angeles Times reports USC and Notre Dame in talks to resume series

If anyone thought the cold war between USC football and Notre Dame would last many years, that line of thought turned out to be wrong. The thought process was reasonable, but apparently the power brokers at both schools seem to have realized the enormity of their mistake. Ryan Kartje of the Los Angeles Times reported on Monday morning that the two schools are back in discussions to resume their football rivalry.

"It’s not clear yet when the rivalry series will return or what the terms will be," Kartje wrote. "A person familiar with the discussions not authorized to talk about them publicly told The Times that Notre Dame is now willing to discuss playing the game earlier in the season , which had previously been a sticking point. "Given future scheduling agreements, it’s possible that the two schools still won’t meet again on a football field until the 2030 season.

But at least they’re back at the bargaining table, and a person familiar with the discussions told The Times that they were optimistic a deal could be reached. "That shift in tone comes after a year of both schools playing chicken, with each side refusing to blink during negotiations over the future of the series. USC wanted to move the matchup to the start of the season, in line with the rest of its nonconference schedule, while Notre Dame wanted a long-term agreement to keep the game during the same late-season slot in which the series has always been played.

Their dispute played out in a series of public relations missives, starting last May, when Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua suggested to Sports Illustrated that the rivalry was in jeopardy because USC didn’t want to continue it. " It never should have come to this. A solution should have been negotiated long ago to keep the series flowing continuously, without interruption.