USC’s place at No. 14 in the AP preseason poll says plenty about where this team stands before the first snap: respected, but still with work to do. The Trojans are sitting in the middle of a top 25 that signals expectations without guaranteeing anything, and with 11 days left before the opener against San Jose State, that number hangs over a season that could go a lot of different ways.
Inside the brand-new Bloom Football Performance Center and on Howard Jones Field, the vibe is clearly upbeat. Jayden Maiava said the mood around the program has been booming.
“The energy’s just been through the roof,” quarterback Jayden Maiava said. “The standards have never changed.
It’s never changed, whether it’s game week or not game week. I think every single day, this team does such a phenomenal job just attacking every single day.”
For USC, the stakes are plain. A 10-win season or a trip to the growing College Football Playoff would point the program in the right direction. Miss that mark, and the consequences could be significant, with a head coaching change among the possibilities.
Lincoln Riley, at least publicly, isn’t acting like a coach carrying that kind of pressure. On Tuesday, he was on the field during the media viewing period taking snaps and handing off to running backs, and then followed that up with a press conference full of jokes.
There was also a positive sign for the passing game: wide receiver Tanook Hines was out there practicing Tuesday. Maiava said he and Hines have been putting in extra work to get on the same page.
“We’ve done a lot of our own walk-throughs together, one-on-one,” Maiava said. “So it’s just catching him up on everything that he needs to get caught up on. It’s just continuing to feed that chemistry and the sky’s the limit.”
Whether Hines will start or even suit up against San Jose State remains unsettled. The staff is in the middle of depth chart discussions this week as it treats the days ahead like a mock game week.
The ranking, though, gives USC a clear lane to climb. Tobias Raymond said the group can feel the buildup.
“We’re excited because we’ve been working so hard,” offensive lineman Tobias Raymond said. “I think there’s a lot to look forward to this season. We’re all just excited to get started and get rolling into the games.”
Tuesday also offered a look at some special teams possibilities. Backup quarterback Sam Huard was seen holding for kicks during that portion of practice, and Riley said the staff likes to explore every option on the roster.
“We’ll always try to look at the roster and see how we can attack someone,” Riley told reporters. “And we never want to discount or discard anybody on our roster’s ability to help us.
“I don’t know that it would be a full-time thing (for Huard), but we have some different skill sets and kind of like the creativity we used last year.”
Punter Sam Johnson handled holding duties for kicker Ryon Sayeri last season, aside from the time Huard took over for a fake punt against Northwestern. Sayeri is expected to take kickoffs this season, while Riley still hasn’t decided whether Sayeri or Caden Chittenden will handle field goals and PATs.
There was also a USC note from the NFL preseason over the weekend. Former Trojans receiver Ja’Kobi Lane made a strong first impression for the Baltimore Ravens, finishing with three catches for 38 yards and a touchdown in a 24-7 win over the Philadelphia Eagles.
Lane’s score came on a 15-yard throw from Joe Fagano, with the quarterback hitting him down the middle and Lane diving from the 2-yard line to get into the end zone. Baltimore drafted Lane in the third round, 80th overall.
In Other News...
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 🡒]