USC is scared of Notre Dame. It's been beyond obvious since negotiations between it and Notre Dame to continue their historic rivalry collapsed earlier this year but Lincoln Riley spun his own narrative about the situation at Big Ten media days. USC head coach Lincoln Riley was asked for an update on the rivalry with Notre Dame. Riley's take on the rivalry's pause is nothing more than a Trojan horse of timidity that's attempting to pass as overconfidence. Winning games is, of course, key to qualifying for the CFP and USC has only won once in its last nine meetings with Notre Dame (3-12 since 2014).