Jayden Maiava describes the biggest difference entering as USC starter in 2025

The USC Trojans turned to Jayden Maiava late during the 2024 season amid struggles. Now, they’re hoping that he can lead the Trojans to a bounce-back season in 2025.

Going into the year, Maiava finds himself in a new situation as the starter. Despite that, as he explained at USC Media Day, Maiava wants to maintain the same mindset both individually and as a team, regardless of his role.

“I think the biggest thing for this team is just to stay neutral,” Jayden Maiava said. “We go by this still ain’t sh*t mindset. So, I think just taking every day one day at a time, and no matter how much you think you put in, it’s never enough.”

Jayden Maiava began his career as a three-star recruit in the Class of 2022 at UNLV. There, he spent time as the starting quarterback, where he broke out in 2023 ahead of his transfer to USC. At USC, he found a quarterback competition with Miller Moss. That was a competition that, initially, the more experienced Moss won.

Despite Moss winning the quarterback competition going into the 2024 season, USC struggled under him. In nine games, the Trojans went 4-5 with Moss as the starting quarterback. That included going just 2-5 in the games before he’d be benched for Maiava. Moss now plays for Louisville.

Taking over in the middle of November, Maiava went 3-1 in four games, including a bowl win. Individually, he finished the season completing 59.8 percent of his passes for 1,201 yards and 11 touchdowns to six interceptions. He also had 45 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns.

Certainly, there’s still room for Maiava to grow as a player. USC head coach Lincoln Riley said during the offseason he wants to “trim the fat” from his game. It’s also clear that Riley won’t hesitate to make a change at quarterback if he feels it’s best for the team. So, he’ll want to hit the ground running against Missouri State on August 30th.

Jayden Maiava on what would make for a successful season

The goal, ultimately, at USC is to win national championships. For Jayden Maiava, that’s the clear goal he’s setting ahead of the season to make it a successful year.

“National Championship,” Maiava said. “I feel like that’s what everybody on this team would answer with that question. Obviously, one day at a time. Staying disciplined about it, but it’s obviously something that is a part of our goal.”

USC has won 11 national championships in program history. However, none of those have come since their back-to-back run in 2003 and 2004.