The long-standing rivalry between the USC Trojans and Notre Dame Fighting Irish may be hanging on by a thread. And former USC captain and current Fox Sports analyst Petros Papadakis is directing his fire towards current Trojans coach Lincoln Riley and radio host Colin Cowherd for its potential cancellation.
Reports have emerged that USC is taking a wait-and-see approach to their century-old rivalry with Notre Dame because of potential changes that may come with the College Football Playoff. The first game between the two schools was played in 1926 and they have met 92 times in total. But now its days may be numbered and current USC head coach Lincoln Riley is taking his fair share of the blame publicly.
One prominent voice calling out Riley is Papadakis, who has had a lengthy media career as a radio host and Fox Sports college football analyst. But he was also once a USC captain and knows how much the rivalry means more than anyone. And in an appearance on 750 The Game with John Canzano in Portland, he took dead aim at the Trojans coach for even thinking about not playing Notre Dame.
“College football has been taken over by the television companies, one of which I work for as you know. But honestly none of that in my opinion has anything to do with USC-Notre Dame, and should not have anything to do with USC-Notre Dame. And that’s the beauty of USC-Notre Dame is that it transcends conference realignment, it transcends the NIL, and it transcends all of these different twists and turns in the sport. If it can survive World Wars it should be able to survive the selfishness and the absolute myopic nature of the era we live in,” Papadakis said.
It’s ridiculous to think that it wouldn’t. Because Lincoln Riley doesn’t like it? Who the hell is Lincoln Riley in the grand scheme of things when it comes to USC and Notre Dame?” he added.
But that wasn’t all. Petros Papadakis also had a word for fellow Fox Sports employee Colin Cowherd, who he accused of carrying water for Lincoln Riley. He also called Cowherd out on social media for dismissing the rivalry.
“It just really bothers me that there’s people who have never put on the uniform, don’t even have an association with either university that think of themselves as advocates for USC just because they carry water for a guy like Lincoln Riley. And I’m talking about Colin Cowherd and his ilk and they sit here and try to tell everybody what’s best for USC? And that the Big Ten is not viable anymore to have this non-conference game. As if in an expanded college football playoff it’s going to help USC to schedule Missouri State and Georgia State?” Papadakis said.
“And Lincoln Riley trying to wriggle out of Notre Dame. I’ve got news for you, if you can’t beat Maryland or Minnesota, what the hell are you worried about playing Notre Dame or not. Collect the revenue. USC is not even close to competing. And if they were fourth in the Big Ten, trust me having Notre Dame on their resume, win or lose, is a lot better than beating someone 60-0 that is Missouri State. It’s just very sad to me… Any argument being made, the Big Ten, travel, all of this stuff. It all goes by the wayside. It’s USC-Notre Dame. There’s billions of dollars involved and the players are getting paid. Are you kidding? We’re not going to play this? It’s the dumbest thing I’ve heard in my life,” he declared.
It’s rare to see a prominent former player like Petros Papadakis come out so strongly against a current coach of their program, especially one the size of USC. But that goes to show you just how insane it is that the school would be willing to sacrifice their rivalry with Notre Dame just because it may make for an easier path to the College Football Playoff. It wouldn’t be the first rivalry game to be sacrificed in the era of conference realignment, but it would be one of the biggest pieces of college football tradition lost in its wake.