The future of USC-Notre Dame is an open question, one of many pressing questions facing college football, but Lincoln Riley doesn't sound worried.

The biggest gainer: No. 14 Oklahoma, up from No. 25. The Sooners recently added RB Jaydn Ott (Cal) and OG Jake Maikkula (Cal’s ACC archrival, Stanford) to their totally overhauled offense. Also making a big jump is No. 19 Texas Tech, which has probably signed like 38 more players since I started writing this newsletter.

Notre Dame is ranked No. 6 in the Athlon Sports projected Top 25 ranking. Steve Lassan from Athlon Sports put the ranking together and here is what he said about Notre Dame: "The

Notre Dame will cross another NFL venue off its list to start 2026 but something from that is missing regarding college football.

Notre Dame football made multiple offers to different classes on Wednesday. Find out all the information about the new scholarship here.

This season's USC-Notre Dame battle is the last one on the schools' current contract, and the Trojans are reportedly reluctant to commit to a long-term extension. Sports Illustrated reported that USC is uncertain about the series' impact on its College Football Playoff hopes, considering the demands that come with playing a Big Ten schedule.

Josh Pate says the mentality of wanting to avoid scheduling Notre Dame to protect USC's CFP hopes is 'pathetic.'

USC officials insist the school is not trying to kill its prestigious college football series with Notre Dame and instead is seeking shorter contracts.