USC’s fall camp is already giving fans a first look at a new setting, a new routine, and a schedule that doesn’t leave much room to ease in.
The Trojans are officially into preparation for the 2026 college football season, and USC football’s official social media account posted a behind-the-scenes clip from the team’s first week of camp. The video showed the Trojans working through drills as they began their push toward a season opener against San Jose State on Saturday, Aug. 29 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
It was also the first chance for USC to showcase the Bloom Football Performance Center, and Lincoln Riley clearly liked what he saw after a day on the field.
“This building is magical,” Riley said to reporters. “The response from the players and staff when they were able to first come in here was powerful.
This is a significant step for our program and relative to what we all can do in this building. I think relative to showing off the proud history we have here as USC Trojans and all that’s happened and come before us.”
The Trojans enter 2026 still chasing a milestone that has never happened in program history: a College Football Playoff berth. USC’s tradition is loaded with national and conference titles, but the recent record tells a different story, with just one conference championship over the last two decades and no national title game appearances.
That makes the road ahead a demanding one, especially with the season starting in “Week Zero,” an earlier kickoff than most teams around the country. USC also had to make a late schedule adjustment this offseason when San Jose State was added after it became clear the Trojans would not play their annual non-conference rivalry game against Notre Dame in 2026.
Even without Notre Dame, the slate is still packed. USC’s Big Ten schedule includes matchups with the league’s top three teams from a year ago: Oregon, Indiana, and Ohio State.
All three reached the playoff in each of the past two seasons. Ohio State won the national title in 2024 and Indiana did the same in 2025, while Oregon was knocked out by both before those teams went on to finish the job.
USC will host Oregon on Sept. 26 and Ohio State on Oct. 31, then travel to Indiana on Nov. 17.
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The release comes as tickets for USCs 2026 football slate are already on sale, with pricing and schedule details now available for both home and road games. For a fan base that tends to treat fall Saturdays like an event, it is one more reminder that the Trojans brand is as active in the marketplace as it is on the field. [Read more 🡒]
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That is where the pressure shifts to names like Tanook Hines and transfer Terrell Anderson, along with the broader depth Dennis Simmons is trying to build at receiver. For USC, the question is not simply whether the top options can flash, but whether the position can hold up across a season and give Maiava the kind of support that turns promise into production. [Read more 🡒]