No. 14 USC gets one last nonconference tune-up Saturday night, and the Trojans will spend it against a Louisiana team that arrives at the Coliseum with some momentum of its own.
USC has looked overwhelming through two games, opening with a 39-0 rout of Fresno State and backing that up with another lopsided win. The Trojans are 2-0 and still searching for a cleaner version of their offense, even after a performance that never really left doubt. Louisiana, meanwhile, showed plenty in its own opener, rolling past Lamar University 38-7 behind a fast second-quarter surge and a defense that never let the Cardinals breathe.
It’s the first meeting between the programs, and it comes with USC getting one more chance to sharpen things up before Big Ten play begins Sept. 19 at Rutgers.
The Ragin’ Cajuns come in with a few clear strengths. They pounded the ball for nearly 250 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns against Lamar, while redshirt freshman running back Darrell Smith, redshirt junior wide receiver KeDarius Wade and redshirt junior tight end Caden Jensen combined for 225 total yards. Redshirt junior quarterback Lunch Winfield also brings a dual-threat element, though he threw two interceptions in the opener.
That should make USC’s secondary busy, and the Trojans will also be looking to force Winfield into more mistakes. Louisiana’s defense, for its part, already showed it can create havoc by forcing four takeaways last week.
For Lincoln Riley, though, the bigger conversation this week has been about USC’s own details. Even after the Trojans controlled Fresno State from start to finish, Riley said there’s more meat on the bone in the run game.
“We’ve done the majority of things pretty well, but we’ve seemed to have had some small breakdowns here and there, whether it’s not leveraging a block correctly [or] missing a cut,” Riley said Tuesday at a post-practice news conference. “I put us in bad situations at least twice [Sept. 4].”
USC ran for 140 yards against Fresno State, but Riley wants the ground game to turn solid gains into explosive ones.
“One little breakdown can be the difference between an 8-yard run and a 40-yard run,” Riley said. “Seven [yards] is not bad, but when we’ve got the opportunity to hit a home run, we wouldn’t mind putting it over the fence.”
Ball security is another obvious checkpoint. USC fumbled three times against Fresno State and lost two of them, and that’s the kind of sloppiness that can get expensive in a game where the offense rarely has to punt. The Trojans didn’t punt until the fourth quarter against Fresno State and have punted only twice this season.
The good news for USC is that the engine remains humming. Jayden Maiava, the reigning Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week, has been sharp and efficient, and he’s doing it with help from freshman receiver Trent Mosley, who has quickly become one of the team’s most dangerous playmakers.
Mosley already has over 220 yards and three receiving touchdowns in two games, plus a 41-yard punt return in his debut. He said his growth has come from understanding defenses better.
“[The mental evolution] has to do with defenses, how coverages are played or how certain corners or nickels are playing me and how that affects my route and timing with the quarterback,” Mosley said. “I’ve learned the creative side of plays; [Riley] really shows what he sees when we install it, which helps us learn the defense and learn what we’re looking for when we run the route.”
Maiava’s production has been so efficient that he now ranks second among USC quarterbacks with at least 500 passing attempts in yards per attempt at 8.9, behind only Caleb Williams and ahead of Matt Leinart and Sam Darnold.
There could also be a defensive boost on the way. Riley said sophomore defensive tackle Jakheem Stewart is “very close” to returning from a nagging foot injury, and getting him back before conference play would be a welcome development.
Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. as USC looks to keep rolling and push its home winning streak to double digits.
In Other News...
USC May Have Found The Missing Piece In Its Passing Game
Freshman tight end Bowman gave USC a much-needed spark in its 49-30 win over Louisiana, leading the Trojans in receiving with six catches for 83 yards and scoring the first two touchdowns of his college career. It was the kind of performance that can change how an offense looks, especially for a team still trying to sort out its passing-game identity early in the season.
Bowman became the first USC tight end to score multiple touchdowns in a game since 2022, and his presence was impossible to ignore before he was held out in the second half after taking a big hit. Lincoln Riley praised his playmaking ability afterward, and Bowman pointed to the offensive line and quarterback Jayden Maiava for helping create those chances, a promising sign for a Trojans offense that may have found a new layer to lean on. [Read more 🡒]
USC Suddenly Has A New Availability Question Before Louisiana
A few days out from Louisiana, USCs injury picture has taken on a different look, with defensive lineman Stewart back at practice after last seasons stress fracture and surgery. His return adds a notable layer to the Trojans prep, especially on a defensive front that could use more healthy bodies as the week moves along.
Stewart is not the only one trending in the right direction, either, as defensive backs Peyton Dyer and Marquis Gallegos, tight end Tucker Ashcraft and receiver Terrell Anderson all have a chance to suit up. The one spot that has shifted the other way is long snapper, where senior Dylan Black is unavailable after a medical setback, prompting USC to bring in transfer Caleb Moser to fill the gap. [Read more 🡒]
USCs Fast Start Comes With One Big Question Fans Cant Ignore
Southern California kept its perfect start rolling with a 49-30 win over Louisiana, and the offense again looked every bit like a Lincoln Riley unit should. Jayden Maiava directed a night that produced 494 yards for the Trojans, while the team got contributions from across the roster as it moved to 3-0. Riley pointed to the way the group performed and how new players are being folded into the mix, which only adds to the sense that this start has been built on more than one hot stretch.
The bigger question now is how sustainable this early burst really is once the schedule stiffens and opponents force USC to keep answering in different ways. There was no shortage of fireworks against Louisiana, from explosive passing-game production to special-teams help and another clean step forward in the standings, but this is the point of the season when early momentum starts to get measured against depth, consistency and how quickly the Trojans can keep everyone in sync. [Read more 🡒]