Haley Sawyer (OC Register)  —  Louisiana football coach Michael Desormeaux has been to California only once, on a trip to Lake Tahoe. He’s also seen a defense like USC’s only one other time in his life.

“They have got some creatures on defense,” Desormeaux told reporters. “This is probably the best defensive line in 11 years of being here, outside of maybe Alabama in ’18.”

That Alabama team was a national championship runner-up and held seven of its opponents to two touchdowns or less that season. USC (2-0) still has to finish the nonconference season, but Desormeaux’s assessment could be sage-like when it comes to Saturday night’s matchup at the Coliseum.

Defensive coordinator Gary Patterson coached the Trojans’ defense to its first shutout win since 2024 when they beat Fresno State, 39-0, last week. It marked the first time since 2009 that USC has held opponents scoreless in the first half in back-to-back games.

Abasiri has burst onto the scene this season as one of the most intimidating forces on USC’s defense. The junior from Minnesota is among the best pass-rushers in the country, and his physical transformation has him taking double teams and clearing the way for the rest of the defense.

“A great interior defensive lineman is so tough on offenses because everything you do is going to be affected,” USC head coach Lincoln Riley said. “That’s the kind of impact really good ones have and that’s what Jide is doing for us right now.”

This will be the first game between USC and Louisiana (1-0), which is projected to finish second in the Sun Belt Conference’s West Division.

Quarterback D’Wanye’ “Lunch” Winfield is in his second season as a starting quarterback after earning the job halfway through the 2025 season.

He passed for 1,555 yards and 11 touchdowns last season while rushing for another 667 yards and nine touchdowns, even as the offensive line took a hit. Seven of the top tackles on the depth chart missed playing time last season due to injury.

“He’s far and away the most athletic quarterback that we’ve seen up to this point,” Riley said.

Winfield will be down a key target with leading receiver Shelton Sampson ruled out due to injury, so the Ragin’ Cajuns will likely rely on their running game for the second consecutive game.

Desormeaux doesn’t want his team’s toughness to stop there, either.

“We’ve gotta play harder than they do,” he said. “Period. We’ve gotta play harder and we’ve gotta want to win the game more than they do. It has to mean more to us to have a chance in this game.”

When USC has the ball

Jayden Maiava has been on a tear in USC’s first two games, completing 88.9% of his passes (48 of 54) for 635 yards and five touchdowns. A reconfigured offensive line has allowed him to be sacked only once.

The Trojans’ offense was nearly equally balanced between the run and pass last week against Fresno State, but it wants to take a step forward in the lesser successful running game after rushing for 140 yards and two touchdowns. Ball security will also be important after fumbles by Waymond Jordan and Kayden Dixon-Wyatt.

Small Breakdowns

“We’ve done the majority of things pretty well,” Riley said. “But we seem to have had some small breakdowns here and there, whether it’s not leveraging a block correctly, missing a cut. I put us in bad situations at least twice the other night.”

Great receivers look to exploit Ragin’ Cajuns

Sophomore Tanook Hines played against Fresno State after missing the season opener due to injury and adds to a receiving corps that has been led by freshmen. Trent Mosley (4) is the team’s leading receiver with 11 catches for 222 yards and Kayden Dixon-Wyatt (who was committed to OHIO ST as a prep before he flipped to USC) is second with 10 receptions for 138 yards.

Louisiana returns its best interior lineman in Fitzgerald West Jr., who made 23 tackles and two sacks last season. Cornerback Brent Gordon Jr. anchors the secondary and was an All-Sun Belt Conference first-team pick after recording a team-best 62 tackles.

What’s at stake? This is USC’s final nonconference game before the Trojans take their longest road trip of the season to open Big Ten play at feeble 0-2 Rutgers. It’s one last chance to tie up loose ends, especially when it comes to getting previously injured players some live-game repetitions. If players like defensive tackle Jahkeem Stewart and defensive end Braylan Shelby aren’t available, it could foreshadow depth complications.

Who’s better? USC is better, and they’ll need to show that they’re better for a complete four quarters. The Trojans couldn’t close out their season opener at a high level once the starting players exited the game, but they showed dramatic improvement up and down the depth chart when they shut out Fresno State the following week. They should continue on that trajectory, regardless if a few of the injured players make their return this week. The Ragin’ Cajuns, from the Sun Belt Conference, are coming off a 6-7 season, which ended in a 20-13 loss to Delaware in the 68 Ventures Bowl in Mobile, Ala.

Playing tough-against-the-run red-zone defense gives USC its best chance of keeping Louisiana off the board. All of the Ragin’ Cajuns’ touchdowns against Lamar were scored on the ground from 25 yards or less.

Prediction: USC 42, Louisiana 7. The Trojans go 3-0 in nonconference games before charging into Big Ten play against disappointing Rutgers, with the dangerous #6 ranked Oregon Ducks on tap for USC in the Coliseum on Sept. 26.

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