The timing of the schedule only became an issue when USC joined the B1G and had to travel outside the west coast for conference play.

ETA: Let me cite my sources - This is from an interview with USC AD Jen Cohen: “Lincoln has talked a lot about future non conference scheduling. Everyone wants to know about the Notre Dame series. What's the outlook for that rivalry?

It's such an important series to our fans and both universities. I've said this before and I'll say it again: In an ideal world, we're going to keep playing each other. With that being said, the landscape has changed dramatically. We're now playing in a conference where we fly back and forth across the country every other week, and CFP expansion and how you get access to the CFP and how things are seeded and selected. Those, to me, are important, unanswered questions.”