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USC Football 2026 Schedule: Easiest Matchup

Chris Trevino USC Trojans footballby: Chris Trevino05/29/26ChrisNTrevino

USC football’s 2026 season opener will be here before we know it. It’s a season with a lot of expectations on head coach Lincoln Riley, entering his fifth season at the helm. The 2026 schedule will be no stroll in the park with many make-or-break games.

We decided to focus on several specific categories when it comes to the 2026 schedule, moving on to The Easiest Matchup.

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Easiest Matchup: San Jose State (Week 0) 

Location: Coliseum, Los Angeles (Calif.) 

Series: 6-0 USC

Last Meeting: 56-28 USC (Los Angeles, 2023)

Rationale

Picking the Easiest Matchup is, well, the easiest selection of the whole schedule series. There is always a clear choice. For USC football’s 2026 slate, the clear choice is season opener San Jose State.

The Spartans are no punching bag but a decent program with three bowl game appearances over the last four seasons.

But San Jose State is coming off a 3-9 campaign, its lowest win total since a one-win season in 2018. The Spartans underwent a complete overhaul to its roster and coaching staff for second-year head coach Ken Niumatalolo, a proven winner. The Spartans have some of the lowest returning productivity in the country, which might be a good thing but makes them short on experience.

Overall, the Spartans are a wild card team for 2026 that will be fighting for bowl eligibility this fall. Early projections peg them for 4.5 wins this fall. This will be USC’s third matchup with San Jose State since 2021.

It also doesn’t help that USC will be the opener for the Spartans, who will be fielding a lot of inexperience at key spots. This one should be over by halftime.

Other Contenders

There really isn’t a strong list of contenders for this one. The only other option I really considered was Week 2 opponent Louisiana, the last addition to the schedule.

While at face value, this game might seem like the easiest, the Ragin’ Cajuns are actually a pretty solid Sun Belt program. The program has made seven consecutive bowl games out of the Sun Belt and recorded a 10-win season in 2024. But four of those bowl games came under then fast-rising coach Billy Napier, who left for the Florida job. Louisiana has lost four consecutive bowl games since his departure.

Louisiana has gone 6-7 three of the four years under head coach Michael Desormeaux. While I don’t think this will be much of a fight, I see the Ragin’ Cajuns putting up more resistance than the Spartans. The defense will be leaky like it was in 2025, but Louisiana should be feisty on offense with returning QB Lunch Winfield (awesome name).

Previous 2026 Matchups

The Most Hyped Matchup

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Garry Paskwietz (1966-2019)

Garry Paskwietz was a pioneer in bringing team-specific sports coverage to the internet. He founded WeAreSC in 1998 and was an Emmy winner for his work with Fox Sports West. Always generous with his time, knowledge, and compassion, he touched the lives of countless USC and high school football fans.

Garry Paskwietz