USC head coach Lincoln Riley said he "would love" to continue playing against Notre Dame but would not commit to continuing the rivalry now that the Trojans are in the Big Ten.

"I would love to," he said Wednesday, per Matt Fortuna of The Inside Zone. "I know it means a lot to a lot of people. The purist in you, no doubt. Now if you get in a position where you got to make a decision on what's best for SC to help us win a national championship vs. keeping that, shoot, then you got to look at it.

"And listen, we're not the first example of that. Look all the way across the country. There has been a lot of other teams sacrifice rivalry games. And I'm not saying that's what's going to happen. But as we get into this Playoff structure, and if it changes or not, we're in this new conference, we're going to learn something about this as we go and what the right and the best track is to winning a national championship, that's going to evolve."

Fans who want the game to stay don't have to worry about the immediate future.

After all, the Trojans and Fighting Irish will face each other to end the regular season on Nov. 30 and are slated to play in 2025 and 2026 as well.

However, Riley's comments didn't exactly suggest the game will surely stay on future schedules.

From USC's perspective, it is already in a loaded Big Ten conference that features Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Wisconsin, Oregon, Washington, UCLA and others. Every year's schedule is going to be a daunting one moving forward in the new league, and facing difficult non-conference opponents like Notre Dame only makes losses more likely.

There is something to be said about an expanded College Football Playoff, which will feature 12 teams for the first time during the upcoming season, making headline non=conference games more likely because teams can afford a loss more than in the past.

But USC will be tested enough in the Big Ten and may look to schedule easier foes in preparation for league play in the future.