Why USC Is an Enemy for Numerous College Football Programs

The USC Trojans are one of the most successful programs in college football history. With that, USC has made some enemies along the way.

ESPN revealed a list of archenemies for each power conference team. USC made the list multiple times.

West Coast Rivals

usc trojans notre dame fighting irish ncaa rival ucla bruins oregon ducks pete carroll keyshawn johnson rose bowl reggie bush — Nov 11, 2023; Eugene, Oregon, USA; USC Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley, left, and Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning talk before a game at Autzen Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

For the Oregon Ducks, ESPN put USC as their archenemy. These two programs go way back to their days as members of the Pacific Coast Conference over 100 years ago. They are now Big Ten rivals.

USC and Oregon have played each other a total of 65 times. USC leads the all-time series 38-24-2 (one win is vacated). Their first game against one another was back in 1915. Oregon has had the upper hand of late and has beat USC the last four times.

While Oregon does have the recent football success over USC, the Ducks have still yet to win a national championship. This fuels the rivalry even more. Even when Oregon is getting the better of USC, the Trojans always can fall back on all of their national titles. Oregon, while they have been knocking on the door of a national, have not quite gotten over the hump.

Keyshawn Johnson’s Domination Against Northwestern

The Northwestern Wildcats archenemy on this list is former USC wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson. Johnson played for the Trojans from 1994-1995.

In 1995, USC made the Rose Bowl and faced off against Northwestern. The Wildcats were dominated by the star USC wideout in this game. Johnson hauled in 12 receptions for 216 yards and a touchdown, leading USC to a 41-32 win.

Northwestern came into the game having only played in one Rose Bowl back in 1949, a game in which they won. They have not reached a Rose Bowl since this loss in the 1995 season to USC.

UCLA vs. Pete Carroll

Pete Carroll was the head coach of USC from 2001-2009. In that time, Carroll led the Trojans to seven Pac-10 titles and two national championships. Against the cross-town rival UCLA, Carroll had a record of 8-1.

USC outscored UCLA 329-121 in these nine meetings. Under Carroll, USC dominated college football in the city of Los Angeles.

Non-Conference Rivals

USC and Notre Dame may not be in the same conference, but they are still two big rivals with a history of playing each other going back to 1926. Notre Dame leads the all-time series at 51-37-5.

These two teams have illustrious histories and have faced off in some huge games, such as the iconic “Bush Push” game.

This rivalry has been under the microscope as of late because they will not be facing off in the regular season from 2026-2029 before their new schedule agreement starts in 2030.

USC’s Biggest Archenemy

As for USC’s biggest archenemy, ESPN said it is the NCAA. Following the Carroll years, USC had battles with the NCAA that resulted in them being banned from bowl games for multiple years, running back Reggie Bush getting his 2005 Heisman Trophy taken away (award has been reinstated with him since), and having wins vacated which included a national title.

Many USC supporters felt like were punished unfairly and that puts the NCAA as the Trojans’ archenemy.

With NIL in college football now, some of the things that programs used to be punished for are not against rules now.

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