Lincoln Riley on future of USC-Notre Dame rivalry: 'Hell yeah, I want to play the game'

Throughout the offseason, Lincoln Riley faced questions about whether the USC vs. Notre Dame series would continue. Reports surfaced this summer suggesting the rivalry could be in question as the Trojans weigh future schedules amid questions surrounding the College Football Playoff.

Speaking with On3’s Pete Nakos earlier this offseason, Riley said he would comment “at the appropriate time” about the future of the series. While standing at the podium at Big Ten Media Days on Thursday, the USC coach made it clear he wants to continue the game, though admitted the CFP questions also linger.

Riley noted the timing of the game isn’t necessarily as important as what impact future College Football Playoff formats have on the series. Additionally, he supported the automatic qualifiers under the 4-4-2-2-1 College Football Playoff proposal backed by the Big Ten. That, he said, could preserve marquee matchups.

“All these rivalries mean a great deal to me,” Riley said. “They mean a great deal to anybody that cares about college football. Yes, do I want to play the game? Hell yeah, I want to play the game. Absolutely. It’s one of the reasons I came here. But also, my allegiance and my loyalty is not to Notre Dame and it’s not to anybody else. I’m the head football coach at USC, and I’m going to back USC and I’m going to do everything possible that I can in my power to make USC as good as it can and not going to let anything stand in between that. So I’m very hopeful we can get to a point where it makes sense.

“It’s one of those situations right now where the two schools are in radically different situations. I think we can all agree with that, with one having a conference affiliation and one not. And I think there’s a million reasons why that we should very seriously as a college football community, that we should adopt the automatic qualifying in terms of the College Football Playoff, and this might be the most important one is that we give every reason for college football to preserve non-conference games that mean a lot to the history of the game and to the fan bases and the former players and everybody that’s been associated with it. I’m very hopeful that we can get there and I’m very hopeful that we play this game forever.”

Lincoln Riley has coached in marquee rivalries before

Discussing the importance of the USC-Notre Dame rivalry, Lincoln Riley compared it to his reaction when he found out he would be coaching in the Red River Rivalry between Oklahoma and Texas. He said coaching against the Fighting Irish made the Trojans’ job more special, and his reaction was similar to when he got that call from Bob Stoops.

“Does it matter when it’s played? I don’t think so,” Riley said. “I think that’s something that we’ll always look at. I think depending on what happens here from a Playoff perspective – do we expand, what model do we go to – that’s certainly going to have an impact not only in the rivalry, but what time of year potentially that you would play it. I’ve been asked a bunch about it.

“I told somebody the other day, when Bob Stoops first called me and offered me the OC job at Oklahoma – and I had been sitting on pins and needles for four days and I was convinced I wasn’t getting it – I was at Gate 12 of Love Field, and he called me and told me that he had offered me the job. I took it immediately. My very first thought, literally before calling my dad, calling my wife [or] anybody, was I get to coach in OU-Texas. First thing. When I decided the night at my house to take the USC job, my first thought was, I get to coach in USC-Notre Dame. That’s the first thought. Because before coach, player, any of that, as a fan.”