All of the rankings in this article are according to the 247 Sports composite rankings unless otherwise noted.

The most hectic day of the year is upon us.

No, I’m not talking about the final week of classes or the upcoming exam period but rather referring to National Signing Day, which always sends tremors throughout the college football world.

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USC football, as of 2 p.m. Tuesday, owns the 16th-best recruiting class in the nation, which is assuredly bound to change by the time of publication if the constant recruiting movement we have seen in the past few months is any indication. The Trojans’ ranking is surprisingly high, considering they have lost the commitments of three five-star recruits and three other top-100 players in this cycle so far.

Despite the losses, USC still has a chance to finish even higher than No. 16. Recruiting analysts for 247 Sports have submitted “crystal ball” predictions for three blue-chip players — all on the defensive side of the ball — to join the Trojans just in this past week.

Defensive lineman and five-star recruit Jahkeem Stewart would be a major get for USC, since he would be the Trojans’ lone four- or five-star commit on the defensive line. That unit has been struggling this season, as evidenced by Notre Dame’s 258 rushing yards against the Trojans this past weekend.

USC has struggled to recruit in the South this cycle, but if the Trojans can pull the Louisianan Stewart from the snares of worthy contenders such as Alabama, Ohio State and Texas, the coaching staff’s ventures to SEC country will certainly be worth it.

What should prevent USC true panic in the trenches is that the three players with three or more tackles for loss on the defensive front are all true sophomores or younger, meaning all of them will return barring a transfer. If Stewart signs and junior defensive end Anthony Lucas returns from injury and lives up to his recruiting potential, the Trojans could have a vaunted defensive front.

The other two players experts are predicting will join Head Coach Lincoln Riley and his team — linebacker Madden Faraimo and safety Alex Graham — are both big-time talents in their own rights. If USC is able to sign the full trio, it would be an enormous infusion of talent for Defensive Coordinator D’Anton Lynn’s unit.

Even though USC had a worse record in the regular season this year than last, the Trojans’ defensive improvements have been stark and provide hope for the future. After giving up around 34.4 points per game last season, the Trojans have dropped that drastically to 23.5 in Lynn’s first year running the defense.

With the defensive improvements and solid recruits coming in — the Trojans have four blue-chip defensive recruits currently committed with the chance to add at least three more — the impetus is now on Riley to get his offense set straight.

Despite a clear defensive assurgence, there was an equal offensive regression, with the Trojans scoring 12.1 fewer points per game this season than last. USC still has its bowl game to play, but even if Riley’s offense puts up 50 points in its minor bowl game, that would still be a 10.5-point per game reduction from 2023 to 2024.

Of USC’s 12 currently committed blue-chip players, a whopping 75% of them are on the offensive side of the ball. The most important players on that list in the short term are offensive linemen Alex Payne and Aaron Dunn, both top-200 recruits who committed in the last two months.

The Trojans are slated to lose two of their starting interior lineman — redshirt seniors Jonah Monheim and Emmanuel Pregnon — to the NFL, and offensive line coach Josh Henson does not have much depth behind them.

Ideally, Payne and Dunn will not start as true freshmen for multiple reasons — including the fact they both project as offensive tackles and not interior linemen — but their additions will be crucial to the line’s future and provide meaningful depth for USC.

Their arrival will allow redshirt freshman offensive lineman Micah Banuelos to move back to the middle of the line, which is a better fit for Banuelos who stands at 6-foot-2. Banuelos is currently listed as the second-string left tackle, but Payne or Dunn could potentially slide into that spot as freshmen if Banuelos is called upon to fill the absence of Monheim or Pregnon.

The Trojans have gained and then proceeded to lose the verbal pledges of 13 total players throughout this cycle, yet somehow they are in a good spot heading into National Signing Day. While USC should shoot for a top-10 finish in the rankings, even a top-20 class would be a blessing after a 6-6 regular season.

It seems the Trojans are set up for a strong ending, but it is National Signing Day, and anything can happen.

Buckle up, today is going to be a wild ride, both at USC and across the country as a whole.

Thomas Johnson is a senior writing about USC’s arrival to a new conference and all of the implications surrounding the entrance in his column, “Big Ten Bites,” which runs every other Wednesday.