USC’s freshman class was billed as a cornerstone group when it arrived. Seven games into the 2026 season, it has already become something more than that: a set of first-year players changing games, filling holes, and looking completely at home.
That matters for a program that spent years watching elite California talent leave the state and thrive elsewhere. Lincoln Riley pushed USC toward a national approach when he arrived in 2022, but the Trojans made their biggest recruiting shift in January of last year by reshaping the personnel side, putting general manager Chad Bowden at the front of the operation and backing it with improved NIL resources and a more aggressive coaching staff. The result was USC reclaiming its place as the top recruiting power in California and becoming the first non-SEC school since 2008 to sign the No. 1 class.
The most important part, though, wasn’t just the ranking. It was the kind of players USC landed - and the fact that they were ready to contribute right away.
That showed up quickly on offense. Trinity League products Trent Mosley, Kayden Dixon-Wyatt and Mark Bowman stepped into major roles immediately, and all three have already looked like day-one starters.
Mosley announced himself in the opener by becoming the first USC player to post 100-plus receiving yards in his debut since JuJu Smith-Schuster in 2014. A knee injury cost him three Big Ten games, but when he returned against Penn State, he made the kind of re-entry that changes the shape of an offense: nine catches, 111 yards and a touchdown. The Santa Margarita (Calif.) receiver has topped 100 receiving yards in three of his four games and has scored a touchdown and cleared 100 all-purpose yards in every game he’s played.
Dixon-Wyatt arrived late in the process, flipping from Ohio State to USC on the first day of the early signing period. The Mater Dei (Calif.) receiver now leads the Trojans in receptions and receiving yards. His biggest day came against Oregon in Week 4, when he hauled in seven passes for 114 yards and a touchdown.
Bowman, another Mater Dei standout, has given Riley’s offense real production at tight end in both phases of the game. An injury has kept him out of the last two contests, but he still sits third on the team in receptions and fourth in receiving yards.
USC has also leaned on its freshmen up front. Vlad Dyakonov learned roughly an hour before kickoff against Penn State that he would be starting his first career game at left tackle after Elijah Paige was scratched late.
Riley said, “I think there's some young people across the country, that if you told them that, and they were in that position in that atmosphere and environment, they would be a little wide-eyed,” Riley said. "Vlad was like jacked.
He was ready to go."
He added, “Some of us were kind of like, does he realize what he's getting himself into? Like does he even understand right how big this is?
He didn't flinch. He went in there and he competed.
He didn't play perfect, but he competed every play.”
Elsewhere on offense, receivers Boobie Feaster and Tron Baker and running back Shahn Alston have also chipped in during their first season.
The class has been just as important on defense, where Luke Wafle has looked every bit like the No. 1 overall recruit. At 6-foot-6 and 265 pounds, the New Jersey native brings the kind of size that jumps off the screen, and he has backed it up by becoming a major presence against the run.
His 6.0 tackles for loss lead the team, and he has posted a sack in each of the last two games. He is developing into a full-time weapon as a true freshman.
Rock Hill has effectively split starter duties with Chasen Johnson opposite Jontez Williams at cornerback, which says plenty about how quickly he earned trust in the secondary. Hill had already stood out throughout the offseason. Inside, defensive linemen Tomuhini Topui and Jaimeon Winfield have become important rotation pieces.
For a freshman group once praised for its maturity and lack of entitlement, the on-field payoff has come fast. USC didn’t just bring in a highly ranked class. It brought in one that is already reshaping the team.
In Other News...
USC's Big Ten Path Suddenly Looks More Open After Chaotic Weekend
A chaotic Big Ten weekend shook up the league picture in ways USC will notice right away. Washington, Northwestern, Ohio State, Rutgers, Michigan, UCLA and Oregon all came away with wins, and the slate was shaped as much by quarterback movement and injuries as by the final scores. Julian Sayin's injury altered Ohio State's path, while Dylan Raiola's return gave Oregon a different kind of lift, another reminder that the league's weekly balance can change fast.
For USC, the takeaway is less about any one result and more about how fluid the conference race has become. The Trojans have spent much of this stretch trying to measure where they fit in the new Big Ten pecking order, and a weekend like this only adds to the sense that the path ahead is not as fixed as it once looked. With so many teams dealing with shifting quarterback situations and uneven team dynamics, USC suddenly has more room to make its own case in the weeks ahead. [Read more 🡒]
USC Defense May Be Finding Its Edge At The Perfect Time
USC used its open week to do more than catch its breath. Inside a defense that has been under scrutiny at points this season, players like Jide Abasiri, Kameryn Crawford, Jahkeem Stewart and Luke Wafle were showing the kind of steady progress and voice that can matter just as much as scheme. Abasiri, even while dealing with injury, managed to get on the field for a snap and kept doing the unglamorous work of mentoring teammates, the kind of detail that can quietly raise a units standard.
Wafles development has been especially notable, with the freshman recording his first college sacks while building chemistry with the players around him. The broader result has started to show up in the details of the defense itself, including fewer penalties and a cleaner overall approach. For a Trojans team looking for every possible edge, the timing could hardly be better. [Read more 🡒]
USC Suddenly Has A Real Opening In The Big Ten Race
The Big Ten picture tightened up in a way that should have USC paying close attention. Ohio State still sits at the top of the league despite some injury concerns, and the latest Week 7 ranking reflects a conference that has already started to sort itself out, with several teams dealing with uneven form and key players either banged up or trending in different directions. For the Trojans, that kind of week matters because the path in a new league often opens up when the top group stops looking as secure as it once did.
USC has been mentioned as a potential contender, and now the conversation feels more real because the league around it is no longer spotless. The Trojans do not need the entire conference to collapse, but they do need the teams ahead of them to keep showing cracks, especially with injuries beginning to shape how some of those contenders can look from one Saturday to the next. For a program trying to establish itself in the Big Ten race, this is the kind of stretch where momentum can turn a hopeful season into something much bigger. [Read more 🡒]