USC announced San Jose State as its opponent during Week Zero to open the 2026 college football season. The Trojans made it official for August 29th, 2026, during a Wednesday announcement.

“The Spartans, led by head coach Ken Niumatalolo, will visit Southern California for the seventh time in program history,” the release read. “USC holds a 6-0 all-time record over San José State, with each game occurring in the Coliseum. In the teams’ most recent encounter, the Trojans defeated the Spartans 56-28 to open the 2023 season.  The Trojans are 37-1-1 versus teams from the Mountain West (not including 2 wins vacated due to NCAA penalty; original record: 39-1-1).”

USC notably ended its rivalry series with Notre Dame. San Jose State is the de facto replacement on the schedule.

USC is coming off a 9-4 season (7-2 in the Big Ten) under Lincoln Riley. The Trojans finished the 2025-26 campaign ranked No. 20 in the final AP Poll. It was Riley’s fourth season at the helm since coming over from Oklahoma.

USC hasn’t had a double-digit win season since 2022. Nonetheless, ESPN’s Greg McElroy believes USC is capable of flipping its public narrative with a phenomenal 2026 campaign.

“I know what the skeptics are saying. ‘Guys, they went 9-4 last year. They got bullied in the trenches by Notre Dame. Lincoln Riley hasn’t been able to do it without a generational, once-in-a-lifetime quarterback.’ Well, I’m here to tell you that the 2026 USC Trojans are listening,” McElroy said.

“They’ve spent the last couple of weeks, the last eight months, the last however long it’s been, in building a blueprint, overhauling that blueprint. I don’t think this is the team that people currently think of when they think USC. They think finesse and offense and all stuff. That’s not what this team is currently doing.”

USC is returning numerous key players from its roster from last season. Most notably, the Trojans will be led by returning quarterback Jayden Maiava, who started all 13 of USC’s games last season.

Maiava completed 65.8% of his pass attempts for 3,711 yards and 24 touchdowns, compared to 10 interceptions. He also rushed for 156 yards and six scores.