USC’s linebacker room has turned into one of the most compelling battles in fall camp, and the reason is simple: last season’s play at the position left plenty to be desired.
Desman Stephens is back after starting all 13 games a year ago, and the early signs are encouraging. Now a junior working under a new defensive staff that includes defensive coordinator Gary Patterson and linebacker coaches Mike Ekeler and AJ Howard, Stephens is reportedly moving and reacting faster than he did last season. That’s happening even though he’s added 10 pounds and is now listed at 250 pounds.
Jadyn Walker is in a similar spot. After a shoulder injury wiped out almost all of his true freshman season, he finally got on the field in 2025 and played in every game, making five starts. He, too, has benefited from the new staff and says he has a much better grasp of how to play linebacker.
Still, neither player can feel comfortable. Washington transfer Deven Bryant has thrown himself right into the mix, and USC has taken notice.
Bryant started 10 games for the Huskies last season, giving the Trojans a linebacker with Big Ten experience and another real option in the rotation. After Tuesday’s practice, Lincoln Riley singled him out as one of the defensive players who has stood out.
“We're really impressed with Devin Bryant,” Riley said. “I think he's had an excellent fall camp at backer. We're pretty deep and pretty talented there.”
That depth matters because USC has the kind of defensive front that could go three-deep, but the Trojans know the whole thing only works if the second level steps up. The pieces up front may be in place. The bigger question is whether the linebackers can raise the standard behind them.
Freshman Talanoa Ili is making that question even more interesting. A top 100 overall prospect, he arrives with rare upside and a résumé that already stands out.
At nearby Orange Lutheran, he earned first team All-Trinity League honors as a freshman in a league packed with Power Four talent. His name has been coming up for a while, too.
Bryant remembered being impressed by Ili back when Bryant was a senior at St. John Bosco and Ili was still in high school.
Ili’s momentum has only grown since then. He was one of the linebackers Riley mentioned on Tuesday as someone who has emerged in camp, and Penn State transfer defensive end Zuriah Fisher followed that up on Wednesday by pointing to Ili as a player bringing the physicality. With the season opener against San Jose State on Aug. 29 getting closer, Ili looks like a key reserve who will keep pressing the veterans in front of him until he cracks the starting lineup.
The room also includes redshirt sophomore Elijah Newby, who has been banged up in camp, redshirt junior Ta’Mere Robinson, and freshmen Shaun Scott and Taylor Johnson, giving USC more bodies to work with as the battle continues.
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USC Finally Gets Its Notre Dame Rivalry Back In A New Form
After more than two years of negotiations and plenty of uncertainty created by USCs move to the Big Ten, the Trojans and Notre Dame have settled on a new way to keep one of college footballs signature rivalries alive. The schools announced Aug. 3 that they will resume the series starting Aug. 31, 2030, with a four-year agreement that keeps the game in its familiar early-season slot and gives both fan bases a clear reason to circle future calendars.
USC will host the first meeting at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 2030, then again in 2032, while Notre Dame Stadium gets the return games in 2031 and 2033. It is not the old annual setup, and the broader scheduling picture still reflects the realities of conference realignment, but the agreement at least restores a rivalry that had been left hanging while both sides worked through the logistics of making it fit again. [Read more 🡒]
Zuriah Fisher Offers An Early Read On USCs New Defensive Identity
USCs defense is trying to look and play different in 2026, and the early signs of that makeover have come from a group that barely knew each other a few months ago. Gary Patterson is steering the new-look unit, and the Trojans have supplemented it with five transfer additions, including former Penn State defensive end Zuriah Fisher, whose five years of Big Ten experience gives him a useful frame of reference for what this group wants to become.
Fisher has also been part of the push to add more edge and toughness up front after getting back on the field following a minor camp injury. From his vantage point, the defense is already showing progress in the areas Patterson has emphasized, with the young players especially beginning to settle into the standard USC wants to set. The bigger question now is how much of that early physicality can hold once the real pressure starts. [Read more 🡒]
USC Heads Into Game Week With One Roster Battle Suddenly Heating Up
USC wrapped up its final full on-field practice before game week with a session that felt a little more sharpened than the ones that came before it. The Trojans worked through positional drills, special teams periods and plenty of visible coaching on the field, while players like Prophet Brown and RJ Sermons talked about health, versatility and the way the roster is settling as the season opener gets closer.
The most notable development came in the trenches, where a roster battle that had been quiet earlier in camp suddenly looks a lot more interesting. With the opener approaching, USC is trying to sort out depth and roles without any major new injury concerns in the picture, leaving the coaching staff with a cleaner look at how pieces fit together heading into game week. [Read more 🡒]