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USC adds San Jose State to 2023 football schedule

Erik-McKinneyby: Erik McKinney04/28/22ErikTMcKinney

USC announced a change to its 2023 football schedule as the Trojans will now take on the San Jose State Spartans to open the 2023 season.

The game is scheduled for August 26, 2023. It will take place as a “Week Zero” game, ahead of when most teams will open their season. As a result, USC will be able to begin its fall camp that year a week earlier.

The game will replace the one scheduled against BYU. The Cougars are moving to the Big 12 in 2023 and conference scheduling demands forced them to back out of the game against the Trojans.

This is the second time in three seasons the USC football schedule has included San Jose State following a canceled game. The Trojans booked the Spartans to open the 2021 season after USC backed out of a previously-scheduled game against UC Davis. In canceling that game, USC kept alive its streak of never having played an FCS school.

USC is 5-0 all-time against San Jose State. The programs first played in 1995, which resulted in a 45-7 win for USC. USC posted back-to-back wins by 21 combined points in 2000 and 2001. The Trojans waxed the Spartans 56-3 to open the 2009 season and then beat them in the first game of the 2021 schedule, 30-7.

August 26 will mark the earliest date USC has played a game since the Trojans took on Penn State in the 1996 Kickoff Classic. That game took place on August 25, 1996.

The 2023 USC football schedule

USC will play seven home games and five away games in 2023, just as it will this fall.

The Trojans will host San Jose State and Nevada in out-of-conference games. In Pac-12 play, Arizona, Stanford, UCLA, Utah and Washington will visit the Coliseum. USC will have Pac-12 road trips to Arizona State, Cal, Colorado and Oregon.

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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