USC's excuses for threatening future of Notre Dame rivalry just don't add up

USC vs. Notre Dame is synonymous with college football. The two programs have a combined 24 national championships and 15 Heisman Trophy winners. Each year since 1926, the game played between the Trojans and Fighting Irish has been a must-see, especially in the era of national television.

However, their rivalry is in danger of being affected by conference realignment. But, it's also in danger of being altered or ended by USC itself, which seems to be lamenting its decision to blow up the Pac-12 and sign itself up for constant Midwest football in the Big Ten.

USC athletic director Jen Cohen made it seem like Notre Dame's competition is becoming less of a priority to the school in football, per The Athletic's Antonio Morales on Wednesday.

It sounds like USC is trying to get out of Notre Dame rivalry

Cohen started her answer diplomatically by acknowledging how important the USC-Notre Dame rivalry is to both fanbases, but she quickly shifted into a wild excuse over travel and scheduling.

"The landscape has changed dramatically," she said. "We're now playing in a conference where we fly back and forth across the country every other week, and CFP expansion and how you get access to the CFP and how things are seeded and selected. Those, to me, are important, unanswered questions."

It's not like you wanted this, right? Oh, wait — your school deliberately detonated the Pac-12 to move to greener pastures and compete at a higher level. It just so happens moving to the Big Ten Conference comes with playing the Big Ten schools, which have always been located in the Midwest United States.

"So we remain in conversations with Notre Dame about the series," Cohen continued. "I think we're clear to each other [that] we're going to continue to evaluate what's best, and it's my job to evaluate what's best for our student-athletes and our program."

Guess what? Notre Dame is also located in the Midwest. In fact, it's only a two hour drive from West Lafayette, Indiana where the Trojans will travel to in Week 3 to face Purdue. These floundering excuses just seem like USC is trying to get out of a game it's only won once in the last eight meetings (3-11 since 2014).

That's not to say USC won't get better in future seasons. But getting noncommittal about a historic rivalry that has been a marquee event in college football for nearly a century isn't how a program fixes its problems. Removing Notre Dame from the schedule would actually harm USC's chances at making the CFP, especially if it expands or alters the seeding formula.

Whether the travel is inconvenient or not, USC needs Notre Dame and vice versa. The series means too much to the game and it would cheapen the legacies of future stars if it's not continued confidently.