USC could have repeat of 'inexplicable Big Ten losses' in 2026 with familiar opponent originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
USC’s 2026 schedule is difficult enough without giving away a game it should win.
That is what makes Maryland’s trip to Los Angeles such a dangerous spot for Lincoln Riley and the Trojans.
The Trojans expect to be in the College Football Playoff conversation. Riley has assembled the most talented roster since arriving at USC, and the program has enough offensive firepower to survive the grind of the expanded Big Ten. But one bad Saturday against a team USC should handle could change the entire narrative.
CBS Sports college football analyst Brad Crawford sees Maryland as the Trojans’ biggest trap game because the schedule creates both opportunity and danger.
“The Trojans’ schedule is brutal, but both bye weeks come before key stretches -- a welcome break during an otherwise demanding season,” Crawford wrote. “That said, any CFP hopes could be crushed if the Terrapins travel to Los Angeles and pull off another upset.”
That word, another, is doing plenty of work. USC already knows what Maryland can do to Riley’s program. The Trojans suffered a stunning 29-28 loss in College Park in 2024, one of the inexplicable Big Ten defeats that has continued to linger around Riley’s tenure.
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“Lincoln Riley has already suffered a pair of inexplicable Big Ten losses at USC, including a 29-28 defeat at Maryland in 2024,” Crawford wrote.
That history makes this matchup more than a routine home game. Maryland may enter as an underdog, but the Terrapins will also bring belief. USC, meanwhile, will be under pressure to prove it has matured enough to avoid the kinds of losses that have kept Riley from fully breaking through in Los Angeles.
The danger is not that Maryland looks like a playoff team. The danger is that USC could play loosely, turn the ball over, start slowly or allow the Terrapins to hang around long enough for doubt to creep into the Coliseum.
That is why the matchup feels like a test of USC’s maturity as much as its talent. Elite teams do not simply build explosive offenses; they learn how to put away opponents that have no business hanging around. Maryland has already shown it can make USC uncomfortable, and Riley cannot afford a repeat lesson.
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“If it happens again, it could become a nail-in-the-coffin moment for a coach with the most talented roster he has assembled in Los Angeles,” Crawford wrote.
For Riley, that is the real test. USC can survive losing to elite opponents. It cannot survive another puzzling Big Ten stumble against Maryland if the Trojans want to be taken seriously as a playoff team.