USC’s biggest offseason question looked obvious from the outside: how do you replace the kind of pass-catching production that walked out the door with Makai Lemon, Ja’Kobi Lane and Lake McRee? The Trojans didn’t chase that answer through the portal. They attacked it with freshmen.
That plan started with general manager Chad Bowden and a revamped personnel staff, plus the addition of inside receiver coach/tight end coach Chad Savage. USC didn’t just want names in the 2026 class. It wanted instant contributors, and it went after some of the most coveted pass-catchers on the board.
Receiver Trent Mosley was long viewed as a Notre Dame lean. Tight end Mark Bowman had Texas, Georgia and Alabama as the heavyweights in his recruitment.
Receiver Kayden Dixon-Wyatt had been committed to Ohio State. Receiver Boobie Feaster had been one of the most pursued prospects in the country since middle school.
USC flipped all of them at different points, and each has already mattered.
Tron Baker, another freshman receiver, has also become an early contributor. He was the first player to commit to USC’s No. 1 recruiting class back in September of 2023.
Quarterback Jayden Maiava made the whole thing work by putting in the kind of offseason Luke Huard described with one word: urgency. As Maiava entered his final season, he made it a point to get his new receivers moving in the right direction fast.
By the time the 2026 season arrived, Maiava had already started 31 career games and was entering his third year in the program. He knows Lincoln Riley’s offense inside and out, and he’s become the kind of quarterback who can echo what Riley wants without missing a beat. That helped the freshmen get up to speed quickly.
All of the newcomers except Feaster were on the field for spring practice. Feaster, though, was on campus three times during the spring, using those visits to learn the offense, get comfortable around the program and keep building his connection with Maiava.
USC would have preferred to have Tanook Hines healthy after he started alongside Lemon and Lane as a true freshman in 2025, but an injury kept him out of the entire spring. Even so, that absence gave Maiava even more chances to work with the new group.
The chemistry didn’t stop at practice. Maiava took his receivers on a summer retreat, another step in building trust away from the field. That work has carried over into the fall, where the Trojans’ quarterback and his young targets already look far more connected than most people would have expected.
At the midpoint of the season, the question has flipped. It was once whether USC could really count on so many freshmen. Now it’s where the Trojans would be without them.
Maiava has put himself in the Heisman conversation while directing a dangerous USC offense. He leads the Big Ten in passing yards, ranks second in the country and is also second in passing touchdowns, which puts him fourth nationally.
Mosley and Dixon-Wyatt have been the top two receivers on the team through seven games. In four appearances, Mosley has gone over 100 receiving yards in three games. Dixon-Wyatt has done it twice.
Bowman made his own loud statement against Louisiana in Week 2, catching six passes for 83 yards and two touchdowns. That yardage total was the most by a USC tight end in a single game since Anthony McCoy against Notre Dame in 2009. In that game, the three freshmen from the Trinity League scored the first five touchdowns, which matched the vision USC had been building toward since December.
Bowman has also given Riley a versatile piece to use all over the offense. He’s a dependable route runner, a willing blocker and a threat after the catch, while also showing an immediate understanding with Maiava.
Feaster and Baker have chipped in with their own flashes, giving Maiava two more young options he can trust. And at this point, the Trojans’ freshman class isn’t just part of the story. It’s a major reason the offense looks the way it does.
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Watkins returns after missing last season because of injury, and her comeback gives USC an immediate centerpiece as it prepares to open with an exhibition against Cal on Oct. 25. For a Trojans team that has spent the offseason waiting for its star to rejoin the floor, the bigger question is how quickly Watkins can pick up where she left off and what that means for a program already being treated like one of the leagues headliners again. [Read more 🡒]