Nov 29, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Southern California Trojans former quarterback Matt Leinart leads players onto the field before the game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

USC Legend Blasts Trojans Over Possible End of Notre Dame Rivalry

Originally posted on Notre Dame Fighting Irish on SI
By Nick Shepkowski | Last updated May 20, 2025 3:51 PM ET

Did one of the very best to ever play football at USC take to social media to subtly share his thoughts on the likely end of the historic rivalry with Notre Dame?

It's part speculation but part there is plenty of reason to believe former Trojans quarterback Matt Leinart isn't too thrilled with USC likely dumping Notre Dame from the schedule in years to come. After Sports Illustrated's Pat Forde shared an update on the series Monday, Leinart took to X (the artist formerly known as Twitter) to share a simple, one emjoi post.

— Matt Leinart (@MattLeinartQB) May 19, 2025

Leinart posted that just a couple hours after Forde's story on the struggling chances of the historic rivalry was posted.

I don't want to put words or thoughts in Matt Leinart's mouth but if you've ever heard him speak on the Notre Dame-USC rivalry he certainly doesn't hold back in sharing what the annual game meant to him and his teammates, even when the Fighting Irish were down.

Sure, it's possible Leinart wasn't talking about Notre Dame-USC at all.

Perhaps the 2004 Heisman Trophy winner didn't think highly of INDYCAR to bump the Penske cars to the back of the field for Sunday's Indianapolis 500, or one of his children took his phone and just happened to post a clown emoji to X.

Maybe the former ballroom dancing student didn't like something he saw on Dancing With the Stars.

Or maybe he's just like pretty much every college football fan, and can't believe that either of the two storied programs would ever even consider moving on from playing the other, let alone it being his school that he remains prideful of.

This article first appeared on Notre Dame Fighting Irish on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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