Marcus Freeman Tells Joel Klatt Why Notre Dame–USC Still Matters

The future of Notre Dame and USC playing on the field remains very much in doubt as no games beyond the 2025 meeting in South Bend have been agreed upon between the schools. It's a rivalry that nobody seemingly wants to see go, except those in charge at USC, as the Trojans try and make the easiest path to the College Football Playoff, for which they have never qualified.

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman was on the Joel Klatt Show as a guest recently and was asked about the importance of traditional rivalries. He's been asked about playing USC before, but gave an answer that went into more detail about the significance of them in general, rather than it just being Notre Dame-USC. Below is what he had to say.

Marcus Freeman on Foundational Rivalries

"You think about rivalries, and I'm sure you can go back to when you played high school football or maybe before that." Freeman told Fox Sports' Klatt, "I think back to my high school years right, and I was from Ohio, played at a high school named Huber Heights Wayne and our big rival was (the) Centerville Elks."

Marcus Freeman on His High School Rival

"The guys that have come from Centerville that you may know: AJ Hawk, Kirk Herbstreit, Mike Nugent, some really great players but (it) was a huge rivalry, then you go to Ohio State and play Michigan every year" Freeman added. "The thing about rivalry games is nobody cares what the record is, you win that game and you view that season as a success."

Marcus Freeman on Notre Dame-USC Rivalry

"So for us, one of them that is continuously brought up here in the last month of so is the rivalry we have with USC. Before I ever got to Notre Dame, there's memories I have in my head of great plays in the USC-Notre Dame rivalry, and I think its important to continue that rivalry."

"So if you ask my opinion, I want to continuously play USC every year, you know, and it takes both parties to tango and its got to fit both institutions. And they're in a conference, we're not, when do we play? All of those different things, but I think its important to continue this rivlary."

Nick Shepkowski's Quick Takeaway

There isn't a whole lot here that we haven't already heard from Freeman, but the fact he isn't afraid to double or triple down on his stance is good to hear. I think we all expect a not-so-pleasant announcement about the future of this rivalry in the coming weeks or months, but at least Freeman will go down battling for it while Lincoln Riley will likely run away from yet another challenging task.