Lincoln Riley’s seat at USC already has a little heat on it, and the schedule ahead is the kind that can turn a warm seat into a furnace fast.
That’s the worry after the Trojans opened with a 42-26 win over San José State University. USC looked sharp enough in the blowout to get people talking about the new pieces, from the rushing depth to freshmen like wide receiver Trent Mosley and defensive end Luke Wafle, who have already started living up to the buzz.
But the finish of that game left plenty to chew on. After USC raced out to a 35-3 lead, the defense gave up 23 fourth-quarter points to a San José State team that finished last season in the bottom 20% of the Football Bowl Subdivision in points per game. The Trojans were missing several starters by then, and it’s early, but the kind of leeway they gave up Saturday won’t survive long against what’s coming next.
And what’s coming next is brutal: three teams currently ranked in the preseason top six - No. 2 Oregon, No.
1 Ohio State and reigning champion No. 6 Indiana.
Oregon is the one that stands out first because USC has already dealt with the Ducks twice in the Riley era, and both times it went badly for the Trojans. The good news for USC is that Oregon is coming to the Coliseum for the first time in Riley’s tenure, which at least gives the Trojans some edge.
The bad news is that the Ducks are still loaded, and last year’s meeting featured some of USC’s ugliest football of 2025. Redshirt senior quarterback Jayden Maiava threw two interceptions, and the Trojans managed only 52 rushing yards on 28 carries.
There’s a reason Oregon came into this season ranked No. 2, its highest preseason spot in program history. That doesn’t make the matchup any easier.
Ohio State and Indiana bring an even steeper climb. Both are the last two NCAA college football champions, and the source material doesn’t leave much room for debate about their quality.
Ohio State has multiple Heisman Trophy candidates, while Indiana, with Curt Cignetti at the controls, is the kind of team that can make life miserable for anybody. USC has to go to Bloomington for that one, which only adds to the challenge.
If the Trojans are going to reach the playoff - and the argument here is that Riley needs that to keep his job - they’ll have to run the table through a gauntlet that also includes Penn State in the White Out game, one of the toughest settings in college football. There’s also the danger of slipping against opponents USC is expected to handle, like Washington, which has beaten the Trojans twice in the Riley era.
Last season offered another warning sign: the then-No. 21 Trojans were one of three ranked regular-season teams Illinois faced, and Washington beat the Illini by 17 while USC suffered an embarrassing last-second loss to the same team.
There are practical reasons USC would hesitate to move on from Riley. He makes over $11 million a year, and his buyout is said to be somewhere between $60 million and $90 million. For a university that has dealt with money issues, that’s a massive bill.
There’s also the larger reality that Riley has become the face of this USC era. His office sits on the highest floor of the school’s new $225 million training facility, looking out over the Los Angeles skyline.
That setup isn’t accidental. He’s the one steering the program, and the result of the ride is on him.
Still, the roster isn’t without appeal. Even after losing Makai Lemon and Ja’Kobi Lane to the NFL draft, there’s reason to be intrigued by this team.
The defense under Gary Patterson did surrender those late points, but it also held San José State under 200 yards of total offense through the end of the third quarter. If the young offensive players keep rising and the defense holds together, USC has a chance to do something meaningful.
For now, though, the calendar is doing a lot of the talking. USC’s season could turn quickly, for better or worse, and the biggest tests are already lined up.
In Other News...
USC Faces One Huge Question With JuJu Watkins Back
JuJu Watkins is back on the floor for USC after recovering from the ACL injury she sustained in the 2025 NCAA Tournament, and that alone changes the conversation around the Trojans as they head into the new season. Her return gives USC its senior star back, but it also puts a spotlight on how the offense will look now that Watkins is rejoining a backcourt that learned to thrive without her.
Jazzy Davidson made the most of that window, putting together a standout freshman season and collecting multiple national awards along the way. Now the Trojans have two high-usage guards expected to share the court, which makes their fit one of the biggest questions on campus: how much the ball is in each players hands, how their styles complement each other, and whether USC can make both stars fully effective at the same time. [Read more 🡒]
Former USC Staffer Brings A Real Coliseum Test For The Trojans
Matt Entz has reason to feel good about where Fresno State stands as it heads into the kind of game that can tell you plenty about a program. The head coach, who once worked in the USC orbit, has pointed to a roster built around experience, with 14 of 15 starters back, and he has not been shy about framing his team as a legitimate Group of Six College Football Playoff contender if it can keep that core together.
The challenge, of course, is whether that confidence holds up once the Bulldogs are inside the Coliseum. Entz has also acknowledged the modern reality of roster building, where keeping players in place can be difficult when bigger money and bigger stages are available elsewhere, and this trip to USC gives him and his team a real measuring stick for how far that vision has come. For the Trojans, it is a familiar brand name across the sideline, but also a chance to see whether a veteran Fresno State group can turn that experience into something more than talk. [Read more 🡒]
USCs Opener Put A Young Trojan At The Center Of Attention
USCs 42-26 win over San Jose State in the season opener had plenty to unpack on offense, but one of the quieter subplots was how quickly Trent Mosley became impossible to ignore. Pro Football Focus individual grades painted a picture of a Trojans attack that had multiple contributors at the Coliseum, with quarterback Jayden Maiava among the players reviewed in detail, but Mosley landed at the top of the board.
The 90.7 grade attached to Mosley stands out not just because it was the highest mark on the offense, but because it came in a game where USC had enough production to spread the spotlight around. For a young Trojan, that kind of opening-night attention is often the first sign of a role expanding, and it gives the coaching staff something useful to sort through as the season starts to take shape. [Read more 🡒]