USC got a strong defensive showing for three quarters in its 42-26 win over San José State on Aug. 29, but Lincoln Riley wasn’t exactly thrilled when the fourth quarter turned sloppy.
Riley said Gary Patterson was “pissed” after the Trojans let their intensity slip late, and that kind of finish won’t fly against an upset-minded Fresno State team in Week 1.
That’s where Kameryn Crawford comes in.
The veteran edge rusher quietly gave USC exactly what it needed against a San José State offense built around the pass. The Spartans leaned on their “Spread-N-Shred” look, using four-wideout sets as their base, but they still mixed in the run enough to matter. They handed it off 24 times and finished with 102 rushing yards.
Crawford stood out in that part of the game. Pro Football Focus graded him as the top run defender on the field, giving him an 89.9 after the 16-point win at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. His length, strength and discipline at the line helped close off lanes and steer plays back inside.
Just as important, Crawford’s work made life easier for the players around him. Defensive tackle Jide Abasiri benefited, and so did opposite edge rusher Luke Wafle, the five-star freshman who made his college debut. Wafle showed power and a relentless motor in the near-90-degree heat, but Crawford’s presence helped keep the pressure from landing too heavily on him or the rest of the front, especially on running plays.
That matters even more now because Fresno State is expected to bring the opposite kind of test. The Bulldogs are built to run the ball, control the clock and wear down defensive fronts. Matt Entz, the former USC linebackers coach who now leads Fresno State, is bringing that identity with him into the Sept. 4 game in Los Angeles.
Entz spent one season under Riley in 2024 while aiming to become a Football Bowl Subdivision head coach. Before that, he piled up a 60-11 record and two national titles at North Dakota State. Fresno State became his next stop after the school passed over interim coach Tim Skipper, even though Skipper had guided the team to a bowl season.
For this matchup, Entz is expected to lean on Bryson Donelson and Rayshon Luke, the former Arizona running back, in a thunder-and-lightning backfield. Fresno State is also projected to start Maryland transfer Khristian Martin at quarterback, and he adds another running element to the offense.
So while San José State challenged USC through the air, Fresno State looks built to come right at the Trojans on the ground. That makes Crawford’s run-stopping ability a key piece for Patterson’s defense as USC gets ready for a far more physical script.
In Other News...
USC Just Got Another Reminder It No Longer Looks Like An Elite Program
USCs place in the national conversation has become a little easier to measure by who is missing from the preseason spotlight. The Trojans did not place a single player on the USA TODAY Sports preseason All-America college football team, a list that leaned heavily toward the sports familiar heavyweights from Oregon, Ohio State, Indiana, Georgia and Texas. For a program that still carries a blueblood name, it is another sign that the market no longer treats USC like one of the sports defining powers.
The bigger concern is how often this sort of reminder keeps arriving for a team that has not reached the College Football Playoff in 12 seasons and now heads into a pivotal 2026 campaign under Lincoln Riley. USC is still being measured against the standard set by programs such as Ohio State and Oregon, but the preseason rankings suggest it has work to do before it can claim that tier again. For a fan base used to thinking in championships, the gap between reputation and reality is becoming harder to ignore. [Read more 🡒]
USC May Have Found A New Weapon Sooner Than Expected
USCs 42-26 win over San Jos State offered an early glimpse of a player who may have arrived sooner than expected. True freshman Trent Mosley caught seven passes for 118 yards in his college debut, becoming the first USC freshman since 2014 to clear 100 receiving yards in a first game and giving the Trojans another dynamic option to watch as the season unfolds.
The performance came on a day when USC was also sorting out its leadership structure, naming Tobias Raymond, Kilian OConnor, Alex VanSumeren and Jayden Maiava as permanent captains for the season. OConnor is currently sidelined by injury but remains part of that leadership group, while the program also unveiled the Progressive Insurance logo on the field as part of a multiyear sponsorship agreement, another sign of how much is changing around the team even as Mosleys emergence grabs the attention. [Read more 🡒]
USC Freshman TE Is Drawing A Comparison Trojans Fans Will Notice
Mark Bowman has barely gotten his USC career underway, but the freshman tight end is already generating the kind of buzz that tends to follow special talent. After a quiet debut in which he had limited production, Bowman still left enough of an impression for college football analyst David Pollack to point to his potential, which is exactly the sort of early conversation Trojans fans like to hear about a young pass-catcher in their system.
The comparison gaining traction is one USC supporters will recognize quickly: Brock Bowers. The former Georgia star piled up a rare college rsum, winning two national championships and the Mackey Award twice before heading to the Las Vegas Raiders, and an SEC coach reportedly sees some of that same upside in Bowman. For a freshman just beginning to carve out his role, being mentioned in the same breath as Bowers says plenty about the ceiling USC thinks it may be working with. [Read more 🡒]