The USC Trojans hosted Notre Dame in 2022. That was great. USC had not hosted Notre Dame since 2018, because the 2020 game scheduled for Los Angeles was canceled because of the pandemic. However, there was still a price for USC’s win over the Irish in the Coliseum: USC had to play three 2022 games on Pac-12 Network.

This is due to the policy in which a Pac-12 football team’s minimum required number of Pac-12 Network appearances is equal to the number of home nonconference games it plays. Notre Dame bumped that number of home nonconference games from two to three. Therefore, USC had to play three 2022 games on Pac-12 Network.

This year, with Notre Dame hosting USC in October, USC is playing only two nonconference home games. The Trojans will have to appear on Pac-12 Network only twice, not three times.

So, given the news that USC’s first two football games of the season will be on Pac-12 Network, the Trojans’ last-ever game on P-12 Net is likely to be on Saturday, Sept. 2 against Nevada at 3:30 p.m. Pacific time.

The last-ever Pac-12 Network game is before Labor Day? The rest of the season will likely be free of Pac-12 Network broadcasts?

That’s pretty good news.

The Pac-12 Network has been such an albatross and annoyance for USC football fans. The headaches will get out of the way early this coming season.

Next year, if USC isn’t on ESPN, Fox, NBC, or CBS, it will be on Big Ten Network, which is far more accessible on cable packages and tiers.