USC has offered Notre Dame an extension of multiple years for the football programs’ annual series, potentially preserving the historic rivalry past 2026, The Los Angeles Times reported. 

The extension comes as an amendment to USC’s original offer, which would have only continued the series for one year through 2026. The exact number of years the new contract would extend the matchup for is unclear at this time.

“We’re trying to extend the series,” said Athletic Director Jennifer Cohen per the L.A. Times. “This is an important series for us and for our fans and for our program, and hopefully we get to a resolution that supports that and is in the best interest of our program.”

The USC-Notre Dame rivalry has been a fixture of college football since its first game in 1926, with the upcoming Oct. 18 game being the 95th matchup between the two powerhouses. However, its future had recently come into question following reports that USC wouldn’t agree to a long-term extension of the series, offering only a one-year extension through 2026. 

Cohen told the L.A. Times that she was “really hopeful” for an agreement to be made soon, as the offer was more in line with Notre Dame’s previous wishes for a longer extension.

According to the L.A. Times, USC’s primary concern with extending the series long-term was the uncertainty surrounding the future of the College Football Playoff. Head Coach Lincoln Riley has previously been outspoken about maximizing USC’s chances at making the NCAA playoffs, even if it would mean removing the historic matchup from the schedule.

“My allegiance and my loyalty is not to Notre Dame,” Riley said at Big Ten Media Day in July. “I’m the head coach of USC. I’m going to back USC, and I’m going to do everything in my power to make USC as good as it can be.”

Riley has supported a revised format giving additional automatic bids to the Big Ten, which would deemphasize nonconference games in determining playoff teams and give USC more incentive to continue the series.

With a long-term extension on the table, USC has shifted its focus to changing the timing of the matchup. USC has proposed moving the Notre Dame game toward the beginning of the season to alleviate some of the constant back-and-forth travel required by a Big Ten schedule. Notre Dame, which plays an independent schedule and doesn’t belong to a particular conference, would be less affected by a change in the scheduling of the game, as they don’t have to fit a standard league schedule.

“It’s not very typical that a [Power 4] school would travel back and forth across the country for a nonconference game in the middle of October,” Cohen told the L.A. Times. “It’s a cool tradition to play at the end of the year, but then those are back-to-back rivalry games with a conference championship — and our opponent doesn’t play in a conference championship.”

The Trojans struggled on the road in their inaugural Big Ten campaign last season, going just 1-4 in road games — the one win coming against crosstown rival UCLA — despite a 4-2 record at home. Pushing the Notre Dame matchup to September, when most nonconference games are typically played, would reduce the team’s need to travel later in the season.

Notre Dame Head Coach Marcus Freeman previously said he would support moving the game if it meant the iconic rivalry got to stay on the schedule. 

“It’s pretty black and white for me … I want to play [USC] every single year,” Freeman said per the L.A. Times. “Start of the season, middle of the season, end of the season — I don’t care. I want to play USC every year because it’s great for college football.”

The Trojans will play the Fighting Irish on Oct. 18 in South Bend.