Corey Simms didn’t arrive at USC last season expecting to be buried on the depth chart. A four-star receiver out of St. Louis, he came in with plenty of hype and took part in spring practice with the idea that he’d work his way into the offense as a true freshman.
That plan never quite took hold. Tanook Hines, who didn’t even enroll until the summer, ended up being the freshman receiver who made the biggest early impact in the 2025 class.
Simms’ role was much smaller than anyone probably imagined. He logged just 22 offensive snaps all season, including 11 in the Alamo Bowl.
But instead of letting that frustration define him, he found a way to help USC in other spots. He appeared in all 13 games, was on nearly every special teams unit and made the most of the chances he got.
That, by his own account, became part of his development.
USC’s offseason additions at receiver would have tested anybody. The Trojans signed six wideouts in their No. 1 recruiting class to help fill the production gap left by Makai Lemon and Ja’Kobi Lane, then added former NC State receiver Terrell Anderson through the transfer portal. In a college football world where players often bolt at the first sign of competition, that kind of room can push a player out the door.
Simms went the other way.
Rather than gripe about the numbers game, he doubled down on his work. By the spring of year two under receivers coach Dennis Simmons, his growth was obvious.
He looked more comfortable in the offense and sharper on the finer points of playing receiver. That progress has carried into the fall.
Now he’s earned a bigger stage. Simms made his first career start on Friday night against Fresno State, and afterward he brought his little brother with him to the podium to celebrate the moment.
Through two games, Simms has six catches for 87 yards. The stat line isn’t flashy, but it matters in a receiver room this deep because USC needs steady hands as much as splash plays. At 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds, Simms gives quarterback Jayden Maiava a different kind of target.
"It's amazing playing with a quarterback like Jayden Maiava," Simms said. "It's rare, it's really just a blessing in all aspects."
And he’s far from the only young receiver making noise. Trent Mosley already has three touchdowns in two games and has put together back-to-back 100-yard receiving performances.
Kayden Dixon-Wyatt, another former Trinity League standout, picked up his first 100-yard receiving game Friday night against Fresno State. Zacharyus Williams and freshman Tron Baker have had their moments, too, while Boobie Feaster remains part of the mix.
Hines was back in the lineup Friday night, playing on a snap count and catching a touchdown. Anderson should be back soon after the injury he suffered in fall camp.
That’s the reality in USC’s receiver room right now: everybody is pushing everybody else.
"Practice is competition, competition, competition and that helps us so much," Simms said. "The competition, you want that because it's gonna build the best receiver.
In Other News...
USCs Shutout Made A Statement But The Real Standouts Spark Debate
USCs 39-0 win over Fresno State did more than push the Trojans to 2-0, it also gave Pro Football Focus another full game to sort through as it handed out its weekly player grades. PFFs film review is built to be play-by-play and supposedly removes the usual box-score noise, which makes its numbers a useful, if sometimes controversial, way to judge who actually stood out on a night when the defense never let Fresno State breathe.
Thats where the conversation gets interesting for USC, because the shutout naturally points to a dominant team effort, but the grading sheet can complicate the easy narrative about which players were truly driving the performance. With PFF treating an 85-plus grade as NFL-caliber work, the Trojans came away from this one with more than just a lopsided result, they also left behind a fresh round of debate over who looked the part when the film was stripped down and every snap counted. [Read more 🡒]
Oregon Faces Immediate AP Poll Tension After Uneasy Week 1
USC followed up its opening win by handling Fresno State with a shutout, giving the Trojans a second victory as the first updated AP Top 25 poll of the season looms after the Week 1 slate wraps up. In a week where early rankings are likely to get plenty of scrutiny, USC has at least given voters a cleaner snapshot than some of the teams around it, with the coming update offering an early read on how much stock the poll will put into those first impressions.
The bigger picture still has a few moving parts, and that is what makes the first poll release worth watching. USC is part of a crowded early-season conversation that includes programs like Michigan, while upcoming games across the country could keep reshuffling the picture before the rankings settle in. For the Trojans, the next stretch will matter not just for the record, but for whether this start begins to look like something voters can trust. [Read more 🡒]
USCs Blowout Still Left One Real Concern About This Offense
Jayden Maiava kept pushing the ball downfield and USCs young receivers kept answering in a 39-0 rout of Fresno State in the second game of the season. Trent Mosley and Kayden Dixon-Wyatt both topped 100 receiving yards, giving the Trojans a vertical passing game that looked dangerous and far ahead of schedule, even against a defense that tried to crowd the picture with aggressive safety play and found some success with sacks and turnovers.
For all the fireworks through the air, the ground game never found much rhythm. USC finished with 155 rushing yards at 3.8 yards per carry, and the offense still had stretches where it could not lean on a simple run to finish drives, which is the kind of issue that tends to matter more later than it does in a blowout like this. The passing talent looks obvious, but the Trojans still have a clear next step if they want the offense to be more than explosive. [Read more 🡒]