There are sky-high expectations this season in Los Angeles for the USC football team. Ex-Sooners HC Lincoln Riley has managed to immediately retool the Trojans roster, amassing a collection of portal, prep, and returning talent the program hasn’t featured since the days of Pete Carroll.

USC will go as far as 2022 Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams can take them. He needs to avoid another serious injury like his bad hamstring that derailed USC last season.

The junior signal-caller who is expected to be the #1 pick in the 2024 Draft passed for 4,537 yds and 42 touchdowns in 2022, adding 442 yds and six scores on the ground.

Hopefully, Miller Moss gets some serious second-half playing time.

To make the final four-team College Football Playoff, though, Williams will need to elevate some new players around him. The Trojans lost star wide receiver Jordan Addison to the NFL and athletic Kyle Ford transferred to rival UCLA, but there will be absolutely no shortage of weapons at Williams’ disposal.

Among the team’s notable incomers are versatile sledgehammer-like running back MarShawn Lloyd (0; 5.2 ypc with South Carolina) and elite receiver Dorian Singer (1,105 receiving yds with Arizona), who will bring playmaking experience to the 2023 USC squad.

Up-and-comer WRs Zachariah Branch and Raleek Brown are also dangerous, elusive speedsters, and tight end-turned-wide-out Duce Robinson (6-6, 225) is expected to be a giant talent in time.

They’ll play behind a portal-padded offensive line that was both retooled and reshuffled in the offseason. It’s a work in progress. Center Justin Dedich needs to stay healthy.

Surprising 17-year-old true freshman Alani Noa is challenging junior Emmanuel Pregnon from Wyoming to start at left guard. That’s either good or bad news, depending on how you look at it.

Nonetheless, expectations are that USC’s O-line could develop into a unit that’s improved over last season, though the jury remains out on that.

“That group is one of the more important ones on the field in terms of being cohesive, and so, it is a balance, and I think we’ve got some good competition,” Lincoln Riley said Thursday. “I think the most important thing is figuring out, eventually, who are the right five guys. I think some of the potential rotations here early on are for good reason. We’ve got several guys that we think could be that, and we want to give those guys a chance to go play. I think here, at some point, you would hope [and] expect that lineup will settle in, in a ways.”

The SC defense needs to make serious strides in 2023 after allowing 6.3 yds per play (119th-worst in the FBS) last year. The Trojans led the nation in turnover margin with an impressive 29 takeaways, but there are no assurances USC will somehow duplicate how the ball bounces.

USC’s defensive line and linebackers must make a big statement against San Jose State

The defensive line looks brand new, with Georgia transfer Bear Alexander, A&M transfer Anthony Lucas, and Kyon Barrs from Arizona (the so-called “Merchants of Muscle”) headlining the group of newcomers. The linebackers and secondary, however, return plenty of experience and playmaking ability.

Trojan names to watch include promising ‘backers Mason Cobb (above, former Oklahoma State tackling machine), prep phenom Tackett Curtis, leader Shane Lee (78 tackles), heavier Eric Gentry (71 tackles, missed spring ball recovering from ankle surgery), and safeties Max Williams (two INTs), and All-American candidate Calen Bullock (five INTs).

Stats  —  the USC offense averaged 500.5 total yds (5th) and 41.1 points per game (3rd) in 2022, including 325.7 passing yds (5th) and 174.3 rushing yds (51st). The defense allowed 415.1 total yds (101st) and 27.9 points per game (81st), including 266.5 passing yds (112th) and 148.6 rushing yds (62nd).