Fresh off a much-needed bye week after a grueling first month of play that included countless injuries, USC football is tasked with a looming challenge: shaking off defeat and returning to the play style that propelled its 4-0 start to the season. On Sept. 27, the team suffered a crushing 34-32 defeat to No. 17 Illinois, falling in Champaign, Illinois, on a walk-off field goal. 

As the Trojans (4-1, 2-1 Big Ten) set their sights on picking up a statement win against No. 15 Michigan (4-1, 2-0) at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, tension is quickly building between the two programs for a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff bracket. 

According to ESPN’s College Football Power Index, the Wolverines currently have a 32.5% chance to make the expanded CFP, while USC has a 23.3% chance after the loss to the Fighting Illini. A second loss for either team would likely end their hopes of a playoff berth.

“We’re pretty transparent with our guys on what our plan to win is,” Head Coach Lincoln Riley said in a post-practice news conference Tuesday, referring to the work his defensive line put in over the bye week. “The excitement is to play in this game against a really good group, and coming off the bye week and coming off a game where we weren’t as impactful as we expected to be there, our guys will be ready to play.”

USC and Michigan have faced off 11 times in the past, most recently in 2024, when USC fell to Michigan 27-24 at the Big House in what marked the Trojans’ first-ever Big Ten matchup; the teams have not met at the Coliseum since 1957. 

“These are special games. These are games that you remember. These are games that provide great opportunities for players, for fans, for everyone,” Riley said. “It’s not pressure. This is what we do. This is what we wait all freaking year for.”

Challenging the Wolverines

Michigan Head Coach Sherrone Moore has found his footing in his second year at the helm in Ann Arbor, following up a National Championship victory as offensive coordinator in 2023 and an unusually slow 8-5 season in 2024. His squad has begun the 2025 season with a 4-1 record, including back-to-back wins over competitive teams Nebraska (4-1, 1-1) and Wisconsin (2-3, 0-2).

Michigan’s offense is powered by the sharp tandem of junior running back Justice Haynes, whose 654 rushing yards are the fourth most in Division I, and freshman phenom quarterback Bryce Underwood, the No. 1 overall recruit in the class of 2025 per 247 Sports.

“He’s a really good player,” Riley said of Underwood. “He is young, and you see the physical talent, his ability to move, his arm strength. He is a big kid. We need to put pressure on him and make him execute. That’s the name of the game. We have a lot of respect for him, and we need to impact him as much as we can.” 

On the defensive side of the ball, Michigan attacks aggressively off the edge and has forced at least one turnover in every game this season. The point of emphasis is at the line of scrimmage, where the Wolverines have allowed just 77.6 rushing yards per game, the eighth fewest in the nation. The rush defense limited Wisconsin to just seven second-half rushing yards in last week’s win.

“They’ve got very good inside players this year,” Riley said. “They’re experienced at the edges, got guys that have played a while for them and made a lot of plays. They have a lot of really good depth. They’re able to rotate guys and keep them fresh. You see a lot of different contributors on the defensive front.” 

Leaning on Maiava

While USC’s defense allowed 502 total yards against Illinois, redshirt junior quarterback Jayden Maiava has continued to play at an elite level in Riley’s offense. He completed 30-of-43 passes for 364 yards and two touchdowns, with his one blemish being a critical third-quarter interception — his first of the season. 

Maiava’s 93.4 total quarterback rating through September easily leads the country, and as a result, he was ranked the No. 1 Power Four quarterback on the season in an ESPN article from Oct. 1. He has the second-highest passing yards per game in the country with 317.4 and leads the Big Ten in both total passing yards and total offense.

“Keep doing what he’s doing,” Riley said. “We just need him to be the steady leader that he’s been and keep playing really good, efficient ball, and he’s been in a really good headspace to go do that.”

Making adjustments on defense

After taking a major step forward in 2024 and showing promise in the first few games of 2025, the USC defensive unit has lagged behind the success of the offense. The Trojans have surrendered 63 combined points and over 800 yards from scrimmage over the last two games. This includes allowing the Illini to rush for 171 yards just one week after they rushed for 2 total yards against Indiana (5-0, 2-0).

However, through five games in 2025 under second-year defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn, one notable improvement has been the unit’s enforcement of more pressure on the quarterback. Their 3.4 sacks per game this season ranks No. 8 in the nation, a monumental increase from just 21 total sacks all of last season.

Redshirt senior linebacker Eric Gentry has continued his stellar start to the 2025 season, recording eight tackles and a critical forced fumble near the end of the fourth quarter against Illinois. His six solo tackles per game rank third in the country.

“They have worked hard, and we have some people coming back, getting healthier and getting more reps,” Riley said of his defense. “We attacked everything head-on, things that we had to improve at, leveraging the ball on the perimeter, being aggressive in coverage and doing a really good job with our communication.”

USC will face Michigan at the Coliseum on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.