The abrupt termination or, at least, pause, in the longstanding rivalry between Notre Dame and USC has not gone over well with fans, and it’s not going over well with former Trojan players either.

Keyshawn Johnson, former USC and NFL star wideout, levied heavy blame on USC administrators in general and head football coach Lincoln Riley in particular, accusing them of being fake Trojans who are running “scared” from Notre Dame.

“I don’t know what the F is going on with our athletic department. We got people in there that are not Trojans, that don’t know anything about being a Trojan, running our athletic department. We got a head coach that knows nothing about being a Trojan,” Johnson said. “Why don’t we just not play football? How bout that? We not gonna play Notre Dame again until possibly 2030 is what I’m understanding. That doesn’t make any sense. I grew up on the Notre Dame-USC rivalry. And I’m not one to go in on my athletic department, nor am I one to go in on the USC football coach.

“But if I can remember correctly, I had Lincoln Riley saying, well, I don’t know if I want to play them in the future. You ain’t gonna be here in the future! Especially if you keep missing the playoffs. You not gonna be here in the future, I promise you that.

“So I don’t understand what our athletic department, our administration, ok, our board of trustees, board of regents, whatever you wanna call ’em. What are they doing? We runnin’ from teams now? We runnin’ from Notre Dame? Hell, why don’t we run from Oregon and Michigan and Ohio State and Wisconsin. Why don’t we just not be in a conference? Why don’t we pull that move and just play Sacramento State? Why don’t we play those types of teams? UC Davis. Cause that’s what we want to do.

“This is crazy. It really is crazy when you think about it. Michigan-Ohio State, one of the biggest rivalries in football. Alabama-Auburn. They ain’t canceling that. Why would we cancel our biggest rivalry? Because we can’t beat ’em? It’s ridiculous. It makes zero sense. It’s just hard to support this program. It’s really hard to support this program when we keep on doing this type of stuff.”

Notre Dame has already landed a replacement opponent in BYU. Something of an irony considering it was the Cougars whom Notre Dame would have faced in this year’s Pop-Tarts Bowl. But the Irish declined the matchup after dozens of players reported they would opt out of the game following their snub from the College Football Playoff (CFP) Selection Committee.

The opinions of the CFP Selection Committee reportedly weighed heavily on administrators at USC, who, according to Dellenger, felt that the late-season matchup against their hated rival would hurt their pursuit of a national championship.

“USC officials determined that the game date was not ideal, considering past decisions from the CFP selection committee in punishing schools for losses, especially those late in the season.”

Riley and USC are under tremendous pressure to finally make the College Football Playoff (CFP) after years of unfulfilled expectations. The Trojans have the #1 recruiting class in the country in 2026. Should they miss the playoffs with that level of talent and having ended the Notre Dame rivalry in hopes of improving their chances, Lincoln Riley’s time at USC could very well come to an end.