How USC Trojans Can Stay In Big Ten, College Football Playoff Race

The USC Trojans are coming off a 34–24 road loss to the No. 12 Notre Dame Fighting Irish, dropping to 5–2 overall. With a challenging road ahead, analysts are already turning their attention to what USC must do to stay in the Big Ten and College Football Playoff title race.

Oct 7, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley watches game action against the Arizona Wildcats during the first half at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

The USC Trojans' second loss of the season decreased an already slim margin of error for the rest of the season.

Aside from their competition ahead, the Trojans' performance was not convincing compared to some of their earlier statement wins. USC struggled with the run game, defending the run game, and questionable play-calling that took opportunities away from a shot at winning. 

College football analyst Joel Klatt took notice to the Trojans frustrating 34-24 USC loss, and voiced his thoughts on USC's future and improvements that need to be made in order to see College Football Playoff and Big Ten title contention.

Klatt Takes Notice of USC's Defensive Struggles

Apr 24, 2024; Detroit, MI, USA; NFL Network analyst Joel Klatt speaks to the media at the Play Football Prospect Clinic at The Corner Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

What Klatt first noted when talking about the Trojans performance was the overall talent, emphasizing the losing team is still a very good football team, ranked or not.

"This is still a very good football team. And I know that they're not ranked," Klatt said on the Joel Klatt Show. "They're just on the outside of the AP poll right now, but that's still a really good football team."

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However, Klatt did not hesitate to notice what went wrong for the Trojans in the loss, and noted that a simple fix could put the Trojans back in the fight.

One thing the Trojans could not capitalize on was the containing the run, letting the Notre Dame rinning back duo in Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price rush for 306 total yards, the most rushing yards allowed by USC's defense all season.

Sep 27, 2025; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley on the sidelines during the first half against the Illinois Fighting Illini at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images | Ron Johnson-Imagn Images

Although the Trojans got the job done against the Michigan Wolverines, holding them to 109 rushing yards, Klatt mentioned the same issue arose in the Illinois loss.

"One of the things that continues to get exposed in their losses, Illinois and now Notre Dame, is their inability to stop a really physical run game, in particular right between the tackles. Notre Dame exposed that. Illinois exposed that," Klatt said.

How the Trojans respond against the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Nov. 1 will be key to avoiding another loss. Especially with Nebraska running back Emmett Johnson recording 713 rushing yards through seven games, preventing the Cornhuskers run game is crucial.

Trojans Must Correct Flaws To Survive Upcoming Schedule

Sep 20, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans defensive end Braylan Shelby (10) reacts after sacking Michigan State Spartans quarterback Aidan Chiles (2) during the second half at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

After an unpredictable and wild college football season so far, the Trojans mistakes in week 8 must be fixed to continue down a winning path.

The Trojans enter their final bye weekend of the season before getting back on the field in week 10, when they hit the road to Lincoln, Nebraska to start their final stretch of Big Ten competition.

What Klatt noted of the Trojans performance is it has to improve, especially if they want to reach their Big Ten title and CFP goals at the end of the season.

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-Imagn Images | Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

"That needs to get fixed for the Trojans if they want to go on and potentially put themselves in a position to be a college football playoff team," Klatt continued. "And their schedule is not going to do them any favors."

USC has two road games left, at Nebraska on Nov. 1 and at No. 6 Oregon Ducks on Nov. 22. The Trojans host the Northwestern Wildcats on Nov. 7, the Iowa Hawkeyes on Nov. 15 and rival UCLA Bruins on Nov. 29 to close out regular season play.

The season is far from over, and if USC can clean up mistakes, stay physical in the trenches, and maintain a balanced offense, the Trojans can stay strong in the Big Ten title race.