How to watch No. 20 USC vs. No. 13 Notre Dame 2025 college football game

It is one of college football’s most storied rivals, and because of the ever-changing nature of the sport, it could be on its way out. But not before the No. 13 Notre Dame Fighting Irish host the No. 20 USC Trojans in South Bend on Saturday, Oct. 18. It has been eight years since the two teams played a ranked-vs.-ranked game, and both teams are fighting to maintain their College Football Playoff eligibility. The Irish have already lost two games this season, while the Men of Troy have dropped one game. They will kick off tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET in a game airing on NBC. If you are looking for a live TV streaming service with the best mix of channels and price, we recommend streaming the game and the entire college football season with a subscription to Sling TV. You can also watch with one of Peacock’s two Premium subscription options.

How to watch Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. USC Trojans

• When: Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025 at 7:30 p.m. ET
• TV: NBC
• Stream: Watch with a subscription to Sling TV and Peacock.
• From anywhere: Watch with a subscription to a VPN.

Everything you need to know to stream Notre Dame vs. USC

Why we recommend Sling TV to watch Notre Dame vs. USC

Sling TV has long been one of our top choices for watching college football, thanks to its everyday low price and mix of channels — especially in larger markets. At just $46 per month, you can sign up for either the Sling Orange or Blue base plans, depending on which channel lineup makes the most sense for your viewing needs. In this case, Sling Orange would be your best bet to watch the Notre Dame vs. USC game, since it is airing on ESPN. Of course, you could always get Sling Orange and Sling Blue for just $61 monthly and have access to all of the streamer’s base package channels.

Related: How to get the most college football from Sling this season

However, customers who don’t need a full month of Sling service can sign up to watch via Sling’s new Passes. Sling’s Day Pass will allow you to sign up for its Orange plan for one day for just $5, and though you’ll still need the Sling Sports Extra pack to watch Tennis Channel, you can add this to your bundle for only $1 with a Day Pass.

That means you can pay just $6 to watch the Notre Dame vs. USC game with Sling TV, which is far less than you’ll be asked to pay at other streaming services. That lower price and heightened flexibility are why we recommend Sling TV most highly for watching the entire 2025 college football season.

Keep in mind that NBC is only available on Sling in select markets around the country. So, if you live in one of these areas, Sling is the best option. If not, check out the list of other options below.

Save with Sling

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Sling TV

Sling TV is The Streamable’s choice for cord-cutters on a budget. Sling is a live TV streaming service with multiple channel packages. The $45.99/month Sling Orange plan offers about 30 channels, including Disney Channel and ESPN. The $45.99/month Sling Blue plan offers about 40 channels, including ABC, Fox, and NBC in major markets.

You can combine Orange+Blue for a total of $60.99 / month. Sling also offers many channel add-on packages starting at $6/month.

Save with Sling

$19.99+ / month

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Can you watch Notre Dame vs. USC for free?

If you are just looking for a streaming service to watch this specific game and nothing else, there are options available for you. DIRECTV, Hulu + Live TV, Fubo, and YouTube TV all offer free trials, but they vary in length, so be wary. DIRECTV’s industry-leading trial runs for five days, while Hulu + Live TV’s is a solid three days.

Those are pretty straightforward, but when it comes to the sports-minded streamer Fubo, things can get a little complicated. As The Streamable’s expert David Satin discovered when signing up for the services, figuring out how long Fubo’s trial is — even as you are signing up — can be a bit difficult. Nonetheless, it will be at least one day, with the potential to be as many as seven, depending on a wide range of factors that Fubo does not share publicly.

The YouTube TV trial is said to be “up to two weeks,” but can be as short as two days. So it is difficult to ascertain what you are actually getting before you go through the signup process.

If you are looking to watch the game for free, I would recommend DIRECTV, because that streamer has the longest guaranteed free trial and gives you the best channel options.

What are all of the streamers you can use to watch the Notre Dame vs. USC?

Fortunately for football fans, there are six different streaming services that will stream the game, so you have options to choose from if you don’t already subscribe to any of them. We discussed Sling and the free trial options above, but there is one more, and it offers a different type of streaming arrangement.

In addition to the live TV streaming services, NBC also makes its football games available on its on-demand streamer, Peacock. Both the Peacock Premium and Peacock Premium Plus tiers on the service will make the game available, meaning that you could watch for as little as $11.

Watch a Week 8 college football preview

How to watch Notre Dame vs. USC from anywhere

If you’ll be away from home and can’t watch the game as you normally would, you can still catch all of the action no matter where you are in the world with a VPN. A VPN can be used on your phone, tablet, or computer and make you appear to be back home — even when you’re not — making sure you feel at home no matter where you are. A VPN is a safe and secure way to stay protected online while streaming your favorite sports, movies, and shows on the go. Keep in mind that you will still need to be subscribed to a live TV streaming like Sling TV in order to stream the game with a VPN.

NordVPN is one of the best providers around, at one of the best prices. Currently, you can get two full years of protection for just $3.59 per month — plus you’ll get three extra months FREE. A high-speed VPN with best-in-class security that can be used on up to 10 devices at once — what more could you ask for? Simply sign up, install the software on your device of choice, and start streaming just as you would back home. It couldn’t be easier!

While NordVPN is our recommendation for the best VPN to use while you are traveling, there are a number of other high-quality options available depending on what you are looking for.

• Best Features: ExpressVPN | Starting at $5 per month
• Best Budget Option: Surfshark | Starting at $2.50 per month
• Best Free Option: Proton VPN | Free plan available

USC vs. Notre Dame Game Preview