10 things to know on a loaded USC squad as the MW and Pac-12 arrive

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This summer we dug into the Spartans, position group by position group and with the Mountain West’s exodus reshaping the region, MWCConnection now also tracks the new-look Pac-12.

Before USC opens Week 0 against San Jose State, then turns around and hosts Fresno State the following week in their new conference’s debut, here is the outsider’s primer on exactly what awaits both the Spartans and Bulldogs.

Jayden Maiava enters as a legitimate Heisman piece

The quarterback lining up across from the Spartans on August 29 is not the redshirt freshman SJSU fans remember from 2023. Maiava led the Big Ten in passing yards a season ago, finished second nationally in QBR and threw for 3,711 yards on his way to becoming what more than one outlet now calls a Heisman dark horse entering his senior year. Maiava is 6’4,“ 230 pounds and carries 31 college starts into a Coliseum opener that used to feel unwinnable for opposing quarterbacks less experienced than him.

Lincoln Riley is out of patience for moral victories

This is year five in Los Angeles for Riley and the seat under him has warmed considerably after two seasons hovering around .500. USC went 9-4 last fall with an offense that led the Big Ten in yards per game, but the calendar has run out on excuses. Riley has called this roster more complete and more homegrown than any he has fielded and a trip to the College Football Playoff, not just a bowl bid, is the stated bar in 2026.

The offensive line is loaded, but there’s some injury wrinkles

All five offensive line starters from a year ago are back, anchored by tackles Elijah Paige and Justin Tauanuu, both of whom battled injuries a season ago but have returned to full health in fall camp, though center Kilian O’Connor is not expected to be available this Saturday. Behind them, former walk-on King Miller looks like the Week 0 starter at running back after rushing for 972 yards a season ago. His running mate, Waymond Jordan, is a different story. Jordan’s ankle injury from last October never fully resolved through the spring and his availability for the opener is still described as uncertain, so Trojan fans may see Miller carrying a heavier early-season load than the advertised two-back rotation.

The receiver room is the one place USC has real questions

Losing Biletnikoff winner Makai Lemon and touchdown machine Ja’Kobi Lane to the NFL Draft strips nearly 1,900 receiving yards off the depth chart in one offseason. NC State transfer Terrell Anderson and returning sophomore Tanook Hines headline the replacement plan, but both have dealt with camp injuries of their own. Hines’ offseason procedure kept him out all spring and limited in fall camp. Riley has expressed confidence both will be ready for kickoff, but it is the lone thread a Spartan defense looking for any opening could try to pull on, at least on paper.

Gary Patterson now runs the defense

USC did not chase a total overhaul on that side of the ball, but it did make one of the more respected hires of the offseason in Patterson, the longtime TCU head coach who has bounced through staffs at Texas and Baylor since. Patterson inherits a defense that finished 49th nationally a year ago and is being asked to tighten it, not rebuild it from scratch. Of note, starting defensive tackle Jahkeem Stewart is also expected to not be available this weekend.

USC checks in nationally ranked and buried in Playoff buzz

Multiple outlets have the Trojans in the AP Top 25 to open the year and win totals in the market have set the bar around 10 games. This is a team that spent its entire offseason talking about the Playoff, not a rebuilding year, which says everything about the gap in expectations between the two locker rooms meeting in Week 0.

The Coliseum has not seen a season opener loss since 1997

USC has strung together nearly three decades of taking care of business in its own building to open a season and doing it in front of a crowd that shows up specifically to watch a Playoff-hopeful roster get rolling. That is the environment awaiting a Spartan team breaking in a new starting quarterback in Luke Weaver on the road for his first career start.

The spread is one of the widest on the entire Week 0 board

USC opened as roughly a 35.5-point favorite and the number has since climbed toward 38.5, with the total pushed up into the high 50s and low 60s. Vegas is not hedging here. The book sees a fully stocked Big Ten roster against a Mountain West team replacing the bulk of its production, so the market has priced this about as lopsided as a Week 0 game gets.

Week 0 is the appetizer, not the main course

USC has won five of its last six meetings with SJSU, most recently a 56-28 win in 2023 and has not lost to the Spartans since 1980. That history makes Week 0 feel more like a tune-up than a rivalry game, especially with Fresno State’s Bulldogs landing at the Coliseum just seven days later as the new Pac-12’s headline non-conference test. Matt Entz’s squad went 9-4 a year ago and is breaking in a transfer quarterback battle of its own and national outlets already project USC to win that one too.

History says the Spartans have found Maiava before, just not in this uniform

San Jose State has already beaten Jayden Maiava once. Back in 2023, as a redshirt freshman starter for UNLV, Maiava threw for 229 yards and a late touchdown, but it was not enough. The Spartans held on for a 37-31 win at Allegiant Stadium.

Maiava has grown enormously since and USC now hands him a fully loaded, heavily favored roster that looks nothing like the lost that day. Still, it is proof the SJSU program has, at least once, found a way to make his life difficult and it is the kind of trivia that will get buried fast if the Trojans roll through these 2026 Spartans.

If somehow a scrappy Spartan defense finding its footing under Bojay Filimoeatu keeps this one from turning into a track meet, it can be a tremendous sign for both teams on this 90°+ Saturday.

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