USC Trojans' Lincoln Riley In Awe Of Quarterback Husan Longstreet: Pushing To Start?

Five-star early enrollee Husan Longstreet took part in first spring practice with the USC Trojans on Tuesday. Coach Lincoln Riley applauded the highly touted quarterback, stating he is "further ahead than most freshman at this time."

Centennial Huskies Quarterback Husan Longstreet (4) prepares to pass the ball at Liberty High School on Sept. 21, 2024, in Peoria. | Diannie Chavez/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

USC Trojans quarterback Husan Longstreet played his high school football at Corona Centennial (Calif.), which is located less than 60 miles away from campus.

He was able to make the short trip from Corona to Los Angeles and get accustomed to life as a Trojan before he signed during the early national signing period and joined the team in mid-December ahead of the Las Vegas Bowl. 

Centennial Huskies Quarterback Husan Longstreet (4) prepares to pass the ball at Liberty High School on Sept. 21, 2024, in Peoria. | Diannie Chavez/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

As an early enrollee, Longstreet took part in bowl practices and winter workouts. He saw the structure of practice and what a game plan week is like. Longstreet dressed out and stood on the sidelines for the Las Vegas Bowl, all of which helped speed up his learning curve. 

So, when Longstreet took the field on Tuesday for day one of spring practice, nothing was unfamiliar for the five-star quarterback. 

“Husan is further ahead than most freshmen at this time,” said USC coach Lincoln Riley. “The advantage of being able to come in for a little of the bowl practice, to be in some of those meetings, to set up to where this wasn’t his first college practice that was pretty cool. 

“And he did a great job of taking advantage of being a local guy and he was here as much as the rules allowed. He came to a lot of meetings, came to a lot of practices on his own time, on his own dime and it’s paid off because he’s way further ahead than most guys would be at this age. His ability to communicate and manage the group right now as a young guy is pretty impressive.”

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Redshirt junior Jayden Maiava started the final four games of the 2024 season, where he went 3-1 and accounted for 15 touchdowns. Maiava is the leader in the room, having two years of experience playing at both USC and UNLV, but Riley maintains it’s an open quarterback competition.

There have only been two freshmen that have started at quarterback for USC in the season opener, Matt Barkley in 2009 and JT Daniels in 2018, both of whom were five-star recruits that came from nearby Mater Dei (Calif.) high school.

Nov 30, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans quarterback Jayden Maiava (14) throws the ball against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the first half at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

“The competition piece, number one is just make sure you always have it,” Riley said. “No matter who comes back or however you do it there always has to be competition and there will be a competition this spring, no question. 

“Now does Jayden come in a step ahead in experience and all that of the other guys in the room, of course he does. But the best guy is going to play and that’s to me number one and that should always be the case. And we should always have a really good quarterback room here at USC, so you want that competition and you want guys that are not afraid of it.”

Maiava enters his second year in Riley's system and some familiarity in the offense could lead to a big season in 2025.