A lot has changed for USC football since the end of the 2025 season.

The Trojans saw a flurry of coaching changes across the offseason, headlined by the arrival of Gary Patterson as their new defensive coordinator. They welcomed the No. 1 recruiting class in the country, along with several transfers ready to make an immediate impact on the field. Just weeks ago, they moved into their brand-new, state-of-the-art facility at the $200-million Bloom Football Performance Center.

Among these changes, though, one thing remains the same: the urgency for USC to return to the top of the sport. Twelve years after the inaugural College Football Playoff, the Trojans have yet to make a single postseason tournament appearance — even after it expanded to 12 teams in 2024 — mounting further pressure on Head Coach Lincoln Riley to finally get the job done as he enters his fifth season at the helm.

According to Riley, this year’s squad is up to the task.

“We are more equipped than at any point in the previous few years,” Riley said at Big Ten Media Days on July 28. “That’s not a hope or a wish; those are facts.”

With returning stars and new talent alike on both sides of the ball, Riley’s words might not just be an exaggeration.

Veterans, newcomers alike headline offense

Spearheading the charge will be redshirt senior quarterback Jayden Maiava, who passed on the NFL Draft to return to USC after a breakout season in 2025. Despite struggling with interceptions, throwing seven across the Trojans’ four losses — including two in a stunning Alamo Bowl defeat — Maiava ranked among the best quarterbacks in the country. He threw for 3,711 yards and recorded the highest total quarterback rating in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

“Of all the guys that I’ve been fortunate enough to coach, I don’t know that I’ve had any that have improved from day one to this point as much as Jayden has,” said Riley, who has coached three Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks in his career. “It’s been fun to see him grow as a leader and really start to embrace what it means to be the starting quarterback at USC.”

However, after Maiava’s top two targets — wide receivers Ja’Kobi Lane and Biletnikoff Award winner Makai Lemon — left for the NFL, he’ll be passing to several newer faces. NC State transfer junior Terrell Anderson and four-star freshman Kayden Dixon-Wyatt will join returning sophomore Tanook Hines in a talented receiver room, while four-star freshman tight end Mark Bowman projects as a fixture in USC’s starting lineup.

The running back room, meanwhile, looks largely the same with the familiar one-two punch of redshirt senior Waymond Jordan and redshirt sophomore King Miller. Miller took over starting duties last year after Jordan’s season-ending ankle injury, breaking out as one of the team’s most dynamic players. Both will likely see significant playing time together this season.

The offensive line appeared set in stone, with all five starters returning from last season, until Riley announced Aug. 6 that redshirt senior center Kilian O’Connor would miss the entire 2026 campaign after a “non-contact freak injury.” Several linemen are candidates to fill the starting center role, including redshirt junior Tobias Raymond and redshirt sophomore Kaylon Miller.

Patterson leads new-look defense

While the offense remains strong despite O’Connor’s injury, it was rarely the issue in recent years; the defense has consistently been the team’s downfall. Though USC has steadily improved in total defense each year since 2023, it still ranked just No. 13 out of 18 teams in last year’s powerhouse Big Ten.

All eyes are on Patterson — a “one-of-one” coach, according to Riley — to elevate the Trojans’ defense to a title-contending level.

“I’ve never coached against somebody that I thought was more unique and tougher to go against than Gary Patterson,” Riley said July 28. “They don’t put ‘College Football Hall of Famer’ behind your name for nothing.”

Along with several returning starters, redshirt senior defensive tackle Alex VanSumeren — a three-star transfer from Michigan State — will round out a defensive line that Riley said has “more talent and more depth than at any point in my time at ’SC.” 

With star safeties Bishop Fitzgerald and Kamari Ramsey headed to the NFL, senior Christian Pierce will look to head the Trojan secondary after appearing in 36 games over the last three seasons. Transfer redshirt senior Jontez Williams is likely to start at cornerback following four years at Iowa State.

Key conference battles lie ahead

As the Trojans seek their first CFP berth, an arduous Big Ten schedule stands in their path — one that provides plenty of opportunities to either boost their resume or sink their season.

USC’s first major test comes against Oregon on Sept. 26. The Ducks’ triumph in last season’s matchup put the nail in the coffin for the Trojans’ playoff hopes, so this grudge match should be an early indicator of whether USC can truly compete for a national title.

Another critical opponent will be Ohio State, which is set to visit Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the first time since 2008 on Oct. 31. Just two weeks later, the Trojans will travel to Bloomington, Indiana, to take on the reigning champion Hoosiers.

If USC can make it out of that two-game gauntlet alive, the remaining path to the postseason becomes much clearer. The Trojans will close out the regular season with a crosstown showdown at UCLA on Nov. 28, a game that could determine the fate of their CFP dreams.

Though Riley’s tenure at USC has been defined by disappointment time and time again, the 2026 season marks his best chance in years to turn those dreams into a reality.

“The alignment and momentum within the program is real. It’s palpable. We feel it, our recruits feel it, our team feels it, our fanbase feels it,” Riley said. “That’s how it should be at USC.”