USC’s trip to Penn State on Saturday, Oct. 10, arrives with the Trojans still trying to quiet a lot of noise around Lincoln Riley’s program.
That noise got louder in Week 5, when “fire Lincoln” chants broke out inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum during USC’s win over Washington. The chants started in the second quarter, then swelled in the third as the Trojans fell behind by 11 and the offense kept stalling. USC still rallied to move to 5-1, but the result didn’t change the bigger picture: the program remains under heavy scrutiny, and Riley is feeling it more than ever after four and a half years without the kind of results expected in Los Angeles.
The Washington win did at least give USC something it had been missing for a decade. The Trojans beat the Huskies for the first time in 10 years, in a game they would have lost in the past. Still, the list of issues remains long, and the team has work to do across all three phases.
Now comes another test far from home, and that has been a problem for USC since joining the Big Ten in 2024. The Trojans have not handled road trips well, whether it was the matchup with UCLA in Pasadena in their inaugural Big Ten season, the slow start in a loss to Illinois last September, or the narrow 42-35 escape against a winless Rutgers team in Week 3 this season. Different opponent, same story.
That’s part of why USC is an underdog against an unranked Penn State team. But the Nittany Lions are hardly coming in clean, either.
They’ve dropped their last two games, getting blown out 34-13 by Wisconsin and giving up 413 yards on the ground in a loss to Northwestern. Year one under Matt Campbell in Happy Valley hasn’t unfolded the way many expected.
Even so, what Penn State has done lately may not matter much if USC brings its usual road issues with it. Mental mistakes have been a recurring theme for the Trojans, and penalties remain a problem, especially at the worst possible times. Add in Penn State’s annual “White Out” atmosphere, with 108,000 people expected to create a hostile setting, and the challenge gets even steeper for quarterback Jayden Maiava, who has been at the center of USC’s road struggles.
If the Trojans can clean up the mistakes, silence the crowd and get Maiava back to the level he showed early in the season, they’ll have a shot to leave Saturday night at 6-1 and head into their first bye week with everything still in front of them.
In Other News...
USC Linebackers Just Changed A Big Concern Before Penn State
TaMere Robinson stepped into the lineup for suspended Desmond Stephens II and made the kind of impact USC has been looking for on defense, helping the Trojans grind out a 25-21 win over Washington. The unit tied a season high with five sacks and 48 total tackles, and linebackers Robinson, Deven Bryant and Elijah Newby each earned game balls after a performance that gave the defense some real momentum.
Lincoln Riley praised the depth and effort from that linebacker group, and the timing matters with Penn State next on the schedule. USC is heading into a road environment where communication will be tested by expected crowd noise, so the Trojans now have something tangible to lean on from Saturday beyond the result itself. [Read more 🡒]
USC Just Lost One Of Its Most Respected Special Teams Leaders
USCs special teams unit took a jolt in the Washington game when linebacker Roman Marchetti went down with a left leg injury on a kickoff return and did not come back. For a team that has leaned on him as one of its most dependable special teams pieces, the loss carried immediate weight beyond just one snap. Marchetti had become a respected presence in that phase of the game after arriving as a walk-on and eventually earning a scholarship, a path that made him easy to root for inside the program.
Marchetti later announced on social media that the injury brought an end to his 15-year football career, turning a painful in-game moment into something much bigger for USC. It is a reminder of how much value the Trojans had in a player who built his place the hard way and earned the trust that comes with it. Even without the full football ride continuing, his departure leaves a gap in a part of the roster where reliability matters as much as anything else. [Read more 🡒]
USC Faces A Revealing Big Ten Test After Its Recent Slide
USCs womens volleyball team is heading into a revealing mid-October stretch, with No. 16 Purdue on Oct. 9 and No. 15 Indiana on Oct. 11 set to provide a clear barometer for where the Trojans stand in their first Big Ten season. Both matches will air live on Big Ten Network, giving a broader audience a look at a team now guided by interim head coach Megan Moenoa and sitting at 7-7 overall.
Even with the uneven record, USC has shown one clear strength by leading the Big Ten in blocks, a trait that can travel well in conference play if the rest of the game catches up. Mia Tvrdy and Abigail Mullen remain important pieces as the Trojans try to steady themselves against two ranked opponents, and this week should say a lot about whether the recent slide is a short-term wobble or something more concerning. [Read more 🡒]