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USC Trojans move up in AP, Coaches Polls after beating Michigan State

Erik-McKinneyby: Erik McKinney09/21/25ErikTMcKinney
USC defense (4)
USC defenders celebrate a play against Michigan State (acscottphotography)

The USC Trojans (4-0, 2-0) moved up the AP Poll and into the Coaches Poll this week following a 45-31 win against Michigan State (3-1, 0-1) in the Coliseum late Saturday night.

The Trojans moved up to No. 21 in the AP Poll, jumping up four spots after entering at No. 25 last week. In moving up, the Trojans leapt future opponents Notre Dame — No. 22 this week — and Illinois, at No. 23 after plummeting 14 spots following a 63-10 beatdown at the hands of now-No. 11 Indiana. No. 6 Oregon and No. 19 Michigan are the two other ranked opponents on USC’s schedule. The Trojans are set to face three ranked teams in a row with games at Illinois, home against Michigan and at Notre Dame up next for USC.

The Trojans also jumped six places and into the Coaches Poll at No. 22 this week. There, USC is sandwiched between No. 21 Notre Dame and No. 23 Illinois. Again, Oregon at No. 5 and Michigan at No. 18 are the other two ranked teams remaining for the Trojans.

USC will take on Illinois this coming weekend in what is just about the quickest turnaround time possible for two Saturday games. The Trojans finished the win against Michigan State around midnight Pacific Time and will kick off against Illinois this Saturday at 9 am PT.

“Yeah, nice of the Big Ten,” Riley said when asked about that interesting schedule quirk in back-to-back weeks. “It’s just not going to be an excuse for us. We’ve got a plan for it. We were ready if we had an early kick in a different time zone in terms of what we were going to do. We can’t control that.”

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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