Coach Freeman acknowledges sticking points to USC and Notre Dame series continuing

It is something that occurs less frequently. Oftentimes, various members of a program will attempt to politic their way into favor. That is what makes it nice and consequently deserves praise when coach Marcus Freeman gives an honest assessment as to why the Jeweled Shillelagh is set to no longer continue after this year.

While speaking with Joel Klatt on 'The Joel Klatt Show,' coach Freeman mentioned how Notre Dame's independent status and USC's place in the Big Ten are ultimately making it difficult to schedule the game at a time that makes sense for both programs.

From the Fighting Irish perspective, it would, of course, be great to keep the rivalry matchup later in the year. That's when the better teams will be unable to afford to schedule a difficult non-conference game. Outside of the ACC teams that ND currently has an agreement with, it will always be a more difficult proposition for them to fill up the second half of their schedule compared to the first.

For USC, it is simple. They are in the Big Ten now. The increased travel demand and physical, grinding style of play in the conference make it a completely unreasonable ask for the Trojans to be the ones to play in one of the top-two conferences in the nation and then prepare for an annual playoff contender in the Fighting Irish.

Possible USC opening for negotiations

Of course, coach Freeman added that he would like to see the series continue, as he should. The aspect that was nice to see is the Notre Dame posturing being set to the side for a moment, with the Fighting Irish HC pointing out why USC is pushing for the game to be pushed up in the earlier months of the year.

As things stand now, 2025 will be the last annual meeting of Notre Dame and USC. This latest statement, however, could eventually provide the needed wiggle room that makes the Fighting Irish program budge on when the two rivals play each other moving forward.