Is USC football ready for its make-or-break season? What I learned from training camp

LOS ANGELES — USC wrapped up training camp this past weekend and heads into mock game week as it begins preparation for its Aug. 29 season opener against San Jose State.

It can’t be overstated how crucial this year is for both Lincoln Riley, who enters his fifth season as the program’s head coach, and the Trojans, who are still searching for their first College Football Playoff appearance.

During training camp, USC opened three full practices, including a scrimmage, to the media. Here’s what I learned after attending all three.

1. No need to waste time; let’s get straight to USC’s top-ranked 2026 recruiting class and which freshmen will be significant contributors this season.

In past training camps, it was obvious from the early stages of practice that players like Amon-Ra St. Brown, Drake Jackson, Drake London and Calen Bullock were clearly ready to make an impact for the Trojans. Their college careers played out accordingly.

It was only three practices, but I was really impressed with five-star defensive end Luke Wafle, who was the No. 6 overall recruit in the 2026 recruiting cycle, per the 247Sports Composite. He displayed the flashes you want to see early on from a player who entered college with that much recruiting acclaim, and I’m interested to see how big his role becomes as the season goes on, if he doesn’t open the year as a starter.

I wrote about receiver Trent Mosley in the spring, and my optimism hasn’t wavered. I expect he’ll have a place in the starting receiver group in the slot, where his 5-foot-10, 180-pound frame will play well.

Mosley is part of the Trojans’ very talented freshman receiver group. Boobie Feaster (No. 41 overall player in the 2026 cycle) has generated a lot of hype for the plays he’s made during camp, but don’t sleep on fellow four-star receiver Kayden Dixon-Wyatt (No. 59 overall recruit nationally), who was also a consistent presence.

Defensive lineman Tomuhini “Tom Tom” Topui Jr. has a few veterans ahead of him along the interior defensive line, but I was impressed with the 6-3, 320-pounder’s quickness and burst off the ball.

Five-star freshman tight end Mark Bowman should make an impact at his position this season as well.

“We’re certainly going to have multiple, multiple freshmen on both sides of the ball that are going to play large roles,” Riley said Friday. “There will be some guys that start. There will be some guys who play a lot. There are going to be some guys who are solid 2s who are going to rotate a lot. There is going to be a lot of presence from our freshman class on the field and certainly on special teams as well.”

2. I’m curious to see what sort of leap Jahkeem Stewart makes in his second college season. Before the 2026 recruiting class, Stewart was one of the most-hyped recruits to sign with USC during Riley’s tenure.

He had some really promising moments last season — that he generated 7.5 tackles for loss while playing with a stress fracture in his foot should not be dismissed. But Stewart is not a sure bet to open this season as a starter with Jide Abasiri and Alex VanSumeren also playing along the interior defensive line.

Stewart will definitely be a major figure in the rotation and has the highest ceiling of the defensive tackles, so we’ll see if he inches closer toward reaching that this fall.

3. Center Kilian O’Connor’s season-ending injury was a tough blow for USC’s offensive line. Time will tell how much of an impact it truly leaves. There was offseason buzz about Tobias Raymond potentially starting at center, and I expect that to be the case now that O’Connor is sidelined.

Raymond has started 14 career games, seven at tackle and seven at guard, so we’ve seen plenty of him. O’Connor’s injury really thrusts third-year offensive lineman Hayden Treter into the spotlight, however. Treter has played extensive snaps in just one game (a start in last season’s Alamo Bowl). Now he’s the frontrunner to start at left guard.

4. Ryon Sayeri connected on 21 of his 25 field goal attempts, handled kickoff duties and was third-team All-Big Ten last season. But that doesn’t mean he’s walking into a starting placekicker role this season.

Sayeri certainly could earn the starting role, but on Friday, Riley stressed that Caden Chittenden is also in the mix.

It was assumed Chittenden would be the starter last season after he transferred from UNLV, where he had a strong season in 2024 — freshman All-American and All-Mountain West first-team honors. But Chittenden suffered an injury that opened the door for Sayeri to claim the starting job.

Riley said Sayeri will still handle kickoff duties this season. It’s still up in the air, though, who will handle field goals and extra points.

“I don’t know that I’ve ever been in a situation as a coach where you have two guys that you believe in as much as I believe in them and they both have game reps, game success,” Riley said. “It’s unique.”

5. At this point of the preseason, I feel confident in what USC has coming back at quarterback, with Jayden Maiava in his third season with Riley; running back, where Waymond Jordan is healthy and King Miller has really transformed his physical appearance; and the offensive line, if it remains healthy. I’m also high on the potential at receiver, even though some of those younger players are unproven. If Tanook Hines is healthy, he and NC State transfer Terrell Anderson should provide a solid baseline for the group. I like the depth of the defensive line as well. It should be one of the deeper units USC has had in recent memory.

6. My concerns come on defense. While I like USC’s depth on the defensive line, I wonder where the closers are? Up four in the final minutes and in need of a stop to close the game, who can the Trojans count on to get to the passer? We’ve seen Kam Crawford and Braylan Shelby for multiple seasons, and they haven’t turned into those kinds of players. Will it have to be Wafle as a true freshman? That’s a lot to ask.

We’ve seen Michigan and Ohio State win national championships and Miami make a deep Playoff run because they had waves of pass rushers. I don’t know if USC has enough in that category, which is why it’s struggled to get stops late in close games over the past two years.

Also, the linebacker group has to take a real step forward this season. It feels like I’ve been writing that for nearly a decade, but it remains true, especially if this defense is going to get to where it wants to be.

And in the secondary, Iowa State transfer Jontez Williams provides a veteran presence at the top corner spot, but is coming off a season-ending knee injury that cut short his 2025 campaign. Chasen Johnson seems to be in line to start at the other corner spot, but he missed most of last season because of injury. The other options at corner are young or inconsistent. And elsewhere in the secondary, Prophet Brown and Alex Graham or Kennedy Urlacher will be counted on to be full-time starters for the first time in their careers.

That’s troubling considering 2026 opponents Oregon, Ohio State and Indiana all feature loaded receiver groups.

7. This time a year ago, I wrote that USC was a seven- or eight-win team and the Trojans won nine regular-season games. Two years ago, my projection was 7-5, and USC went 6-6 in the regular season.

I think the Trojans will be pretty good this season, but I still view them as a 9-3 team, and I don’t know if that’ll be enough to make the Playoff. Oregon and Ohio State are coming to the Coliseum, but those teams boast more high-end talent than USC. Until USC proves it can go into a hostile road environment and beat a quality team, how can we trust it to win at Indiana?

USC will be coming off either an emotional high or emotional letdown when it faces Washington the week after Oregon. It won’t be easy to walk out of Happy Valley with a win against Penn State either, so those are challenging games as well.

As I say every preseason, USC can prove me wrong if things break right. Regardless, it’s shaping up to be a fascinating season for the program.