USC’s next trip lands in the same familiar window.
The No. 19 Trojans will kick off at 4:30 p.m.
PDT on NBC when they face Wisconsin in Madison on Oct. 24, extending a run of four straight games in that time slot. USC has already played three of them, falling to Oregon at home, then beating Washington at home and Penn State on the road.
The Trojans enter a bye week after the Penn State win, which stood out as one of the biggest road victories of the Lincoln Riley era. USC left State College with a 6-1 overall record and a 4-1 mark in Big Ten play after handling a tough environment at the White Out game in front of a record crowd of 114,419. The game was tied at halftime, then USC’s defense took over and held Penn State to just two field goals in the second half.
Wisconsin may be unranked in the AP top 25, but the Badgers have already put together a solid start at 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the conference. Their only loss came against second-ranked Notre Dame in South Bend.
Since then, they’ve beaten Western Illinois, Eastern Michigan, Penn State in State College and Michigan State in Madison. Before hosting USC, Wisconsin will play No.
12 UCLA in Pasadena on Saturday in prime time.
USC owns a 7-1 edge in the all-time series and beat Wisconsin in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 2024 in the teams’ last meeting. The Trojans’ only loss to the Badgers came in the 2015 Holiday Bowl. Their previous trip to Madison dates all the way back to 1965.
After Wisconsin, USC’s schedule turns quickly. The Trojans will return home to face No.
4 Ohio State on Oct. 31, then go into a second bye week before a Nov. 14 trip to Bloomington to play No. 5 Indiana.
USC’s final true road game comes there, followed by a home game against Maryland and the regular-season finale at UCLA on Nov. 28.
In Other News...
USCs Huge Penn State Win Ended With One Call Fans Will Debate
USC left Happy Valley with one of its biggest wins of the season, and Jayden Maiava was right in the middle of it. The Trojans quarterback threw for 301 yards and three touchdowns as No. 19 USC edged Penn State in a tightly fought road game, a result that carries obvious weight for a team trying to strengthen its College Football Playoff case.
The finish, though, is already the part people will keep revisiting. Penn State kept the pressure on all night and converted all five of its fourth-down tries, but a late defensive penalty handed USC an automatic first down and helped close the door on the comeback attempt. It was the kind of ending that leaves one sideline celebrating and the other debating a call that will linger well beyond the final whistle. [Read more 🡒]
USC Just Added A Dual-Sport Star Worth Watching Closely
Blake Hamiltons arrival gives USC another reminder of how much talent it can still pull from the high school ranks, and this one comes with unusual versatility. The Tompkins High School standout didnt just turn heads on the track, where he set a new all-conditions high school record in the 200-meter dash at the 2026 UIL Texas State Championships, but also made his mark on the football field by becoming the first 1,000-yard receiver in program history.
For USC, the appeal is obvious because Hamilton brings a rare dual-sport profile and the kind of explosive speed that translates in more than one setting. He earned multiple football honors along the way, took recruitment visits, and ultimately committed to the Trojans after those breakthrough performances, adding another high-upside name to a roster pipeline that always seems to benefit from athletes who can change games in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]
USCs Next Road Test Could Say A Lot About Its Playoff Push
USC gets a breather in Week 7, but the bigger picture comes fast enough after that. The No. 19 Trojans will head to Wisconsin for their third road game of the season in Week 8, and the Big Tens release of broadcast times has only sharpened the focus on a matchup that already carries plenty of weight for a team trying to stay in the College Football Playoff conversation.
The Badgers provide a different kind of test than USC has seen on the road so far, and the trip will help show how real the Trojans progress is away from home. By the time they arrive in Madison, the questions around USC will not just be about record or ranking, but whether the defense and the overall balance are good enough to survive a game that could loom large in the conference race. [Read more 🡒]