USC football’s 2026 conference schedule was officially announced by the Big Ten on Tuesday afternoon, headlined by a Week 0 nonconference matchup and seven straight games to start the season.

While the Trojans still have yet to determine which team will replace Notre Dame in their schedule, after the long-standing rivalry was shelved for the foreseeable future in December, USC will play said team in its season opener on Aug. 29, a week before most teams begin their seasons. Playing in Week 0 — which the Trojans had previously pushed for the Notre Dame game — grants them an extra bye week later in the year.

To play in Week 0, USC will need to schedule a team that plays in Hawaiʻi later in the season, play abroad or face off against a marquee opponent to fulfill the requirements for one of the NCAA’s exemptions.

After finishing its nonconference slate with home games against Fresno State University on Sept. 5 and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette on Sept. 12, USC will kick off four straight weeks of Big Ten play with a road trip to Rutgers on Sept. 19. The Trojans will then host former Pac-12 foes Oregon and Washington in back-to-back games on Sept. 26 and Oct. 3, before travelling to a rebuilding Penn State on Oct. 10.

Riley and company will enjoy a bye week before hitting the road once more to face Wisconsin on Oct. 24. A week later, USC will face off with perennial title contender Ohio State at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Halloween night, followed by its second bye in a four-week span.

The Trojans will start their last stretch of regular-season play Nov. 14 with a trip to defending national champion Indiana; both teams are coming off byes ahead of the game, which will likely have College Football Playoff implications. USC then returns home to host Maryland on Nov. 21 before ending at crosstown rival UCLA on Nov. 28, with the location still in flux amid an ongoing legal battle between the Bruins and their iconic home, the Rose Bowl.

Notably, the Trojans’ top-level opponents are spread out across the schedule, with 2025 CFP participants Oregon, Ohio State and Indiana all placed at least two weeks apart from each other. By far USC’s most difficult two-game stretch — back-to-back bouts with the Buckeyes and Hoosiers, who both finished 9-0 in Big Ten play this season — is separated with a bye week in the middle.

Armed with the No. 1 recruiting class in the country and a brand-new defensive coordinator, Riley and company still have plenty of work to do if they want to earn USC’s first-ever CFP bid, but a conference schedule with two bye weeks and forgiving team placements may be the difference-maker in overcoming the gauntlet that is the Big Ten.