USC Trojans Football Schedule: Three Must-Win Games

If the USC Trojans want to compete for a Big Ten Conference title, let alone a College Football Playoff National Championship- USC coach Lincoln Riley and the Trojans must get past games against the Illinois Fighting Illinis, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, and Purdue Boilermakers.

Nov 30, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley and Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman shake hands after the game at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

It has been more than two decades since the USC Trojans won a college football National Championship. USC won four titles between the 1920s and 1930s, as well as five more between the 1960s and 1970s. Now, the Trojans are unranked in a majority of preseason top-25 polls.

With four nationally ranked teams on USC's 2025 football schedule (and three of those games on the road) the USC Trojans have the potential to make a run at the College Football Playoff this year. The margin of error is slim considering the Trojans have five home games against unranked opponents, including a pair of such contests to open up the season.

Dec 27, 2024; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley reacts against the Texas A&M Aggies in the second half at Allegiant Stadium. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Here are the top three games that USC coach Lincoln Riley and the Trojans must win.

1. Sept. 13: USC Trojans at Purdue Boilermakers

Fresh off of two games at home that are expected to go in favor of the USC Trojans, their first game on the road in 2025 is in Week 3 against the Purdue Boilermakers in Lafayette, Indiana. This will be the first of three football games for the Trojans in the Midwest.

Luckily for the USC Trojans, this opponent is unranked like Missouri State and Georgia Southern. The Boilermakers will also be coming off of back-to-back home games against the Ball State Cardinals and the Southern Illinois Salukis.

Purdue went 1-11 overall last year and 0-9 during conference play within the Big Ten. If the USC Trojans were upset by the Boilermakers this early in the season, it could spell disaster for their championship stakes despite how they do the rest of the season.

Nov 30, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Bret Bielema looks on against Northwestern Wildcats during the second half at Wrigley Field. | Matt Marton-Imagn Images

2. Sept. 27: USC Trojans at Illinois Fighting Illini

Two weeks later, the USC Trojans face their third Big Ten Conference opponent and their first road game against a nationally ranked team in 2025. To put that into perspective, the Trojans faced such a caliber of team as the Michigan Wolverines during the third game of the 2024 season.

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The USC Trojans won their first two games at home to open up the season last year. It was in the first game on the road against a nationally ranked opponent that's also in the Big Ten that gave head coch Lincoln Riley and the rest of the Trojans fits.

Thus, the importance of winning this game on the road against the Fighting Illini.

3. Nov. 18: USC Trojans at Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Oct 14, 2023; South Bend, Indiana, USA; USC Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley and Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman chat before the game at Notre Dame Stadium. | Matt Cashore-Imagn Images

Speaking of one of the USC Trojans' biggest rivals, Notre Dame is on their schedule again in 2025. This time, it's later in the season.

For the college football historians, the USC Trojans had the same thing happen to them in two years ago. After going 6-0 to open up the 2023 season, they lost to the Fighting Irish at Notre Dame 48-20 for their first loss of the year.

The Fighting Irish are ranked No. 6 to begin the year. If the USC Trojans can knock off one of the two teams to appear in last year's national title game, that makes a huge statement in 2025. Add the fact that it would be on Notre Dame's home field likens the committee to keep the USC Trojans in the playoff picture should everything else go their way.

The margin of error is slim. The USC Trojans need to take care of business on the road against the Boilermakers, the Fighting Illini and the Fighting Irish. If they do that, they could end up where Notre Dame finished last season, or better.