The Stanford Cardinal and San Jose State Spartans have rescheduled one contest and added another contest to their Bill Walsh Legacy Game football series, both schools announced Tuesday.
Stanford and San Jose State previously announced a four-game football series, and then later added a couple of additional contests to the series. The series began in 2024 with a San Jose State win at home, 34-31, before continuing this past fall with Stanford returning the favor at Stanford Stadium, 30-29.
The third game of the series was scheduled to be played at CEFCU Stadium in San Jose, Calif., on Nov. 28, 2026. However, that game has been rescheduled and will now be played on Sept. 20, 2031. The change was made due to the ACC moving to a partial nine-game conference football schedule in 2026, and the Cardinal were one of the league teams assigned nine games.
With that change, the two schools will not meet until Nov. 25, 2028 at Stanford Stadium in Stanford, Calif. The Cardinal will also host the Spartans on Sept. 2, 2034, which was previously announced, and in a newly revealed matchup in Stanford on Sept. 6, 2036.
Stanford is also scheduled to visit San Jose State on Sept. 1, 2035, as previously announced.
Following the passing of San Jose State alum and legendary Stanford head coach Bill Walsh, the Stanford-San Jose State matchup was renamed the Bill Walsh Legacy Game.
Stanford and San Jose State first met on the gridiron in 1900 and have played 69 contests. The Cardinal currently lead the overall series 53-15-1.
Stanford is scheduled to open the 2026 season at home against the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors on Saturday, Aug. 29, which is Week Zero. The Cardinal also added a home contest today against the Elon Phoenix, which is set for Oct. 17.
The third and final non-conference opponent for Stanford will have to be a power opponent, per the ACC scheduling rules that require each team to play 10 power opponents per season moving forward. It’s been reported that Stanford will visit Notre Dame, but an official announcement has not been made.
Football Schedules
Reading between the lines here:
Stanford has cancelled its SJSU game that would have been played on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and replaced it with an Elon game that will be played in mid-October. In years when Stanford plays at Notre Dame that game is usually played in mid-October and in the same year Notre Dame has usually played at USC on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Notre Dame is either not playing USC in 2026 or playing that game earlier in the season. Stanford and Notre Dame are rumored to be playing in South Bend in 2026, but no announcement has been made yet.
So… Stanford at Notre Dame on the Saturday after Thanksgiving next season?
Most likely Stanford will finish the season with a bye. They play in Week 0 vs Hawaii so they will still get a bye week. I don’t think Stanford will play Notre Dame in November in South Bend.
Notre Dame at Syracuse Thanksgiving weekend.