USC’s Jayden Maiava named Associated Press national player of the week

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On Saturday, USC opened up its 2026 season by handling San Jose State 42-26 at the Coliseum. With the victory, the Trojans started off the year 1-0.

Earlier this week, the Associated Press announced its national player of the week for Week 0 of the college football season. Taking home the honor—and becoming the first player to do so this year—was USC quarterback Jayden Maiava.

Playing only the first three quarters of the game, Maiava kicked off his senior season with one of his most accurate performances. He finished the day completing 25 of his 29 pass attempts for 286 yards and two touchdowns while also adding a score on the ground.

“I think there's a lot of room for me to stay patient as well as a quarterback,” Maiava said following Tuesday’s practice. “Just continue making the right winning-decision plays and getting the ball in the playmaker's hands.”

Obviously, significantly fewer teams were playing in Week 0 than in a typical week, notably decreasing Maiava’s competition for the honor. However, it was still a very good performance by USC’s quarterback in his season debut.

Maiava and the Trojans are back in action on Friday at the Coliseum against Fresno State. Kickoff is set for 6:00 p.m. Pacific time on Fox.

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This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC’s Jayden Maiava named Associated Press national player of the week

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