Lincoln Riley blaming Notre Dame only deepens USC’s credibility problem

Kirby Lee-Imagn ImagesGive Lincoln Riley credit; he knows his audience. He knows that all he had to do was offer some defense for canceling the longest-running rivalry series in the game, and the easily misled USC faithful would echo it as fact. However, if someone really listens to what Riley said, it belies his true intention, which was always to kill the rivalry at some point.

"With a scenario and a proposal that would extend the series for the next two years. We took Notre Dame at their word that they would play us any time, anywhere. That proposal was rejected."

It's been known for some time now that USC wanted to stage a Week 0 contest against Notre Dame, while the Irish wanted the…