USC’s late-November home date with Maryland now has a kickoff time and a TV home.
The Trojans will host the Terrapins on Nov. 21 at 3:15 p.m. PT, with the Big Ten Network carrying the game. It’s a familiar network for USC this season, even if NBC has been the more common presence around the Coliseum - the Trojans have already played four home games in front of NBC cameras in 2026.
Maryland’s trip to Los Angeles also brings back a matchup that hasn’t happened since 2024, when the Terrapins stunned USC 29-28 in College Park, Maryland.
The Big Ten Network has not announced its full broadcast crew for this one yet, but the outlet’s team of Mark Followill, Rhett Lewis and Caroline Hendershot handled USC’s 49-30 win over Louisiana earlier this season.
There’s also a bigger emotional layer to this game for USC. The Nov. 21 contest will be the last regular-season home game for quarterback Jayden Maiava, who is set to close out a three-season run in Troy.
Maiava didn’t start his college career at USC, but Lincoln Riley brought him in from the transfer portal after he played at UNLV, and he has developed into one of Riley’s most productive portal additions. His rise has even put him on the NFL Draft radar, with some mock drafts projecting him as a first-round pick in April 2027.
Maiava should get a proper sendoff, and he won’t be the only senior getting one. Safety Christian Pierce and cornerback Prophet Brown are also in line for a final regular-season home appearance at the Coliseum. Brown’s path has been especially long, having arrived during the Clay Helton era in 2021 and stayed with USC all the way through.
Before any of that, though, USC has a much bigger test in front of it. The Trojans still have to get through No.
4 Indiana on Nov. 14 on the road. The Hoosiers are 8-1 and sit No. 4 in the College Football Playoff poll, with a clear path back to the Big Ten Championship Game on Dec.
USC can complicate that picture. The Trojans’ Oct. 31 upset of Ohio State pushed them back into the CFP conversation, and if they can beat Indiana, Maryland and No.
8 UCLA, they would strengthen their case to reach Indianapolis with the conference title on the line. That means even a game against unranked Maryland carries real weight in USC’s final stretch of 2026.
In Other News...
Maryland Showed The Response Fans Needed After Its Opener Loss
After a rough season opener, the No. 20 Maryland womens basketball team got the kind of response it needed Sunday at XFINITY Center, rolling past George Mason 81-62 to move to 1-1. Oluchi Okananwa set the tone with 24 points and six rebounds, while Addi Mack and Bri McDaniel joined her in double figures as Maryland found a much steadier rhythm on both ends.
The Terps also leaned on a familiar home-court edge, turning George Mason mistakes into easy opportunities and controlling the paint to keep the Patriots at arms length. It was Marylands 28th straight home win over a non-conference opponent, a reminder that even after an early stumble, this group still has the kind of depth and pressure defense that can make life difficult for visitors once it settles in. [Read more 🡒]
Maryland Finally Ended Its Big Ten Misery With A Sudden Jolt
After 13 straight conference losses, Maryland finally found a way to stop the slide with a 34-29 win over Purdue, giving interim coach Aazaar Abdul-Rahim his first victory and offering a much-needed jolt to a program that had been stuck in Big Ten frustration. The Terps did it with a defense that played with far more disruption than it had all season, while the offense showed a better second-half rhythm than it had managed in league play.
The breakthrough came with a few plays that changed the feel of the afternoon, from Zion Elee and the pass rush setting the tone to Chris Durr Jr. stretching the field in a way Maryland had not seen in a long time. For a team that had been searching for any sign of traction, the bigger question now is whether this was a one-off spark or the start of something more stable as the season moves on. [Read more 🡒]
Marylands First Loss Exposed Problems Buzz Williams Cant Ignore
Marylands first stumble of the season came with a fairly clear message attached. After the Terrapins fell to Georgetown 86-74 and slipped to 1-1, Buzz Williams had plenty to sort through from a game that exposed where his team is still unfinished. The loss wasnt just about the final score, either. It came with questions about how Maryland handled the physical side of the matchup and how often it put itself in tough spots on both ends of the floor.
Pharrel Payne was the one bright spot in the box score, giving Maryland a needed interior presence while the rest of the offense struggled to find a rhythm. Even with Paynes production, the Terps were left with a familiar early-season lesson: talent alone wont cover for slippage in the details. Williams now has a clear list of issues to clean up, and the next stretch will show whether Maryland can respond before those problems start defining the season. [Read more 🡒]
