USC hasn’t won at Notre Dame since 2011, and its only trip under Riley, in 2023, was a total disaster. The stakes next Saturday in South Bend will be sky high for both teams … and not just because of the looming implications of the College Football Playoff.

There’s also the small matter of whether this historic rivalry will continue on at all past 2025.

Make no mistake, no matter what narratives have been spun during negotiations, both USC and Notre Dame want the annual game to continue. (Yes, even Lincoln Riley.) But right now, there is currently no contract for the two schools to continue their rivalry past this coming Saturday.

At a time when revenue has never been more critical to college athletic departments, officials at USC and Notre Dame are fully aware of how valuable the game is, both for their fans and their bottom lines. Which is why when Netflix called USC inquiring about the rights to a one-off of the rivalry in 2026, officials were happy to hear what they had to say.

A source familiar with those discussions but not authorized to speak publicly on the matter confirmed to The Times that Netflix reached out with significant interest in airing the game on its streaming platform as part of its push to “eventize” live sports. That pitch to USC included additional documentary content around the game to also air on Netflix, which already carries a behind-the-scenes series on Southeastern Conference football, “Any Given Saturday.”

There was one major complicating factor in those conversations. Notre Dame is under contract with NBC, which owns the rights to any home games, while USC is part of the Big Ten’s media rights deals with FOX, CBS and NBC. The rights to all of USC’s home slate, including its non-conference matchups, belong to the networks until 2030.

So with that in mind, Netflix suggested they play this single game at a neutral site, like Mexico City or Las Vegas, which, by USC’s interpretation, was not subject to the Big Ten’s media agreement. The networks, however, didn’t see it that way.

USC’s conversations with Netflix were first reported last month by Puck’s John Ourand, who characterized the school as being “extraordinarily naive” in thinking it could sell the rights to an individual, non-conference game. Ourand wrote at the time that the major networks “went berserk” when they heard of these talks, and Big Ten officials “almost immediately shut down the idea.”

But that’s not really the whole story. The Big Ten had already been informed that USC was exploring non-traditional options for continuing the series. USC, according to the source, brought the idea about broadcasting the game on Netflix to the Big Ten while those conversations were happening. It wasn’t trying to nefariously “circumvent” the conference’s media rights agreement. Ultimately, the Big Ten sided with its network partners on their interpretation of the media rights deal.

Conversations with Netflix and USC over future scheduling rights are actually still ongoing, in spite of all this. But considering the way the Big Ten’s network partners lost their minds in light of those talks, it’s unclear if there’s a path forward for the historic rivalry on Netflix.

USC is trying to keep its game with Notre Dame alive. But as their final game draws nearer, the question is whether the future of the rivalry can survive all the opposing powers currently at play.

Extra points

—In a huge win, the Trojans paid a hefty price in losing Waymond Jordan and Eli Sanders. Sanders appears to have suffered a season-ending injury against Michigan, while there’s some hope that Jordan will be able to return from his ankle injury in four to six weeks. USC’s two-pronged rushing attack was one of the bright spots from the season’s first six weeks, and now, the offense will have no choice but to rely more on Jayden Maiava and the aerial attack. In the backfield, King Miller was the first to step into a significant role, but don’t be surprised if we see Bryan Jackson and Harry Dalton, when healthy, factor in. Dalton, in particular, could surprise people.

—Zach Hanson has done tremendous work with USC’s offensive line this season. When Josh Henson left to be Purdue’s offensive coordinator, Riley didn’t hesitate to move Hanson from tight ends coach to the offensive line. Turns out, he knew exactly what he was doing. I expected the offensive line to be a glaring weakness, and it has somehow been one of USC’s strengths early on this season. USC was already down one expected starter (DJ Wingfield) before the season and have lost two (Elijah Paige and Kilian O’Connor) for multiple games along the way. And still, against Michigan’s front seven, USC’s patchwork line didn’t allow a single sack while clearing the way for 224 rushing yards. Notre Dame will be another difficult test up front, but it’s time we stop doubting Hanson’s unit until they give us reason to think otherwise.

—The Big Ten is moving toward a $2.4 billion private equity investment from a California pension fund. But is USC on board? The conference wants a consensus before making it official, and if you follow recent reporting, there appears to be momentum among Big Ten members to put this to a vote. But nothing I’ve heard since writing about this subject in last week’s newsletter suggests that USC’s concerns about the deal have been addressed. If the deal goes through, each Big Ten school will bring in at least $100 million, but the distribution will be uneven by school. USC sees no reason why it shouldn’t push for the same size slice of that pie as Michigan or Ohio State. It also knows how desperate the conference’s smaller schools are for that extra revenue. So why would it hand over that leverage without some sort of concession on the payout? My read is that this situation is not quite as unanimous as it seems.

—The Big Ten media voted USC men’s basketball to finish 12th this season. They’re underestimating Eric Musselman. Sure, they won’t have five-star freshman Alijah Arenas as they hoped. But this is still a more talented and more complete team than last season, one that I expect to be pushing for at least a top-10 conference finish and an NCAA tournament berth. USC is significantly bigger and more physical in the frontcourt with forwards Jacob Cofie and Ezra Ausar, as well as 7-foot-5 center Gabe Dynes. The defense should be much improved, and the experience in the backcourt with Rodney Rice and Chad Baker-Mazara is significant. KenPom’s initial rankings have USC 22nd overall and fifth in the Big Ten. That’s optimistic, but more in line with my expectations.

USC’s Chad Baker-Mazara reacts during a practice at USC. (Ringo Chiu / For The Times)

—Lindsay Gottlieb added yet another top talent to what’s looking like an All-Star roster for 2026-27. Australian forward Sitaya Fagan committed to USC on Thursday, giving Gottlieb the No. 1 international prospect in the class of 2026, to go along with the No. 1 prospect overall in the class, Saniyah Hall. Fagan, who chose USC over South Carolina, averaged 12.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game during the FIBA U19 World Cup and would presumably make an instant impact in the Trojans frontcourt. That said, there won’t be much room in a lineup that already includes former top recruits Hall, Jazzy Davidson and Kennedy Smith.

latimes.com

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