Nebraska Football Opens as One-Score Home Underdog to USC

For the first time in over a month, Nebraska football will play the underdog at home.

The Huskers (6-2, 3-2 Big Ten) opened as one-score underdogs for their home tilt with USC (5-2, 3-1 Big Ten) in early betting lines. USC opened as 4 1/2-point favorites, snapping Nebraska's three-week stretch playing as a favorite. As of Sunday afternoon, the consensus line adjusted to the Trojans at 6 1/2-points.

DraftKings set the line at six points for USC, while FanDuel, BetRivers, and Caesars all list the Huskers at 6 1/2-point underdogs. Nebraska has been listed as an underdog one other time this season, falling to Michigan 30-27 at Memorial Stadium on Sept. 20. The Huskers have been favorites in every other contest, including its neutral-site matchup with Cincinnati in the season opener on Aug. 28 at Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium.

Emmett Johnson runs the ball against Northwestern. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

The Huskers have played as a favorite seven times this season, including in Saturday's 28-21 home win over Northwestern. NU played the road favorite in back-to-back contests at Maryland and Minnesota.

The over/under total for Nebraska and USC was set at 57 1/2 total points. The total is the second-highest for Nebraska's season so far, as the Huskers' home tilt with Houston Christian opened at 59½ points. The total points are a significant increase from last week, as Nebraska and Northwestern's total was set at 42½ points, which was Nebraska's lowest point total of the season.

Nebraska is 2-5-1 this season against the spread in 2025, going 2-2-1 at Memorial Stadium, 0-3 away from Lincoln, and 1-4-1 as a favorite. The Huskers won the season opener over Cincinnati 20-17 but failed to cover as six-point favorites, but rebounded with blowout wins over Akron (68-0) and Houston Christian (59-7) as 34½-point favorites against the Zips and 48½-point favorites against the Huskies. Nebraska's 30-27 loss to Michigan failed to cover the Nebraska 1½-point underdog line, as the Huskers then failed to cover the final 13-point spread in a 38-27 home win over Michigan State.

Nyziah Hunter dives for the touchdown reception against Northwestern. | Cory Edmondson, KFGE

The Huskers failed to cover back-to-back road lines as a seven-point favorite at Maryland on Oct. 11, then dropped a Friday night tilt at Minnesota 24-6, failing to cover the 6 1/2-point spread. Nebraska met the spread at seven points when facing Northwestern, earning the outright win 28-21.

The Huskers are 6-2 on the season in their over/under history, going a perfect 5-0 at home in point totals. However, Nebraska failed to cover the point total in its season opener at Arrowhead Stadium against Cincinnati, but did hit the over against Akron (47½ points), Houston Christian (59½ points), Michigan (47½ points), Michigan State (48½ points), and Northwestern (44½ points). Nebraska is 1-1 in road over/unders, notching 65 total points in the Huskers' road win at Maryland and covering the 47½ total points, but could not muster enough scoring to match the 47½-point total at Minnesota.

USC is 4-3 against the spread this season, going 3-1 at home, 1-2 away from Los Angeles. The Trojans are 3-3 as a favorite against the spread and 1-0 as an underdog, covering their last two contests as 10½ underdogs to Notre Dame and winning 31-13 over Michigan as a three-point favorite. USC had failed to cover the previous three games in back-to-back wins over Purdue and Michigan State, followed by a loss as a 6½ point favorite at Illinois.

Oct 11, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; USC Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley celebrates after kicker Ryon Sayeri (48) hit a 54-yard field goal in the second half against the Michigan Wolverines at United Airlines Field at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

USC is 4-3 overall in its over/under totals this season, going 3-1 at home and 1-2 on the road. As a favorite, the Trojans are 4-2 in their totals while 0-1 as an underdog. In USC's last five games, the Trojans are 2-3 in over/unders coming off of back-to-back unders failing to cover against Michigan (58½ points) and at Notre Dame (60½ points).

USC is sixth in the Big Ten Conference standings after four conference matchups with a 3-1 Big Ten record. The Trojans sit behind Indiana, Ohio State, Oregon, Iowa, and Michigan following conference wins over Purdue, Michigan State, and Michigan. USC's lone conference loss was a 34-32 road defeat at Illinois on Sept. 27. The Trojans arrive in Lincoln on Saturday following a bye week after having lost 34-24 at Notre Dame on Oct. 18.

"There's more possible right now than we even think," USC coach Lincoln Riley said. "And with the record we have in the Big Ten right now and as strong as the league is right now, the opportunities we have upcoming, we got no time to hold our heads. We got a good team in there, I know that we have a good team in there."

Oct 18, 2025; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Southern California Trojans quarterback Jayden Maiava (14) drops back to throw the ball in the first half against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Notre Dame Stadium. | Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

Nebraska is eighth in the Big Ten standings, matching Minnesota, Northwestern, Washington, and UCLA's conference records but owning a head-to-head win over Northwestern while dropping a contest to Minnesota.

"I told you guys last year," Nebraska coach Matt Rhule said. "Six (wins) was awesome last year; we'd never talk about it again. We're still working. We're a work in progress. We're trying to get better and better and better."

Nebraska returns home to Lincoln's Memorial Stadium to host USC on Saturday. The game is set for a 6:30 p.m. CDT kickoff with television coverage on NBC. The contest can also be heard across the Husker Radio Network's affiliate stations.

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