remaining Heisman winner Caleb Williams back for an encore in 2023 hungrier than ever to get USC back to Vegas the Trojans playing their annual rivalry game against Notre Dame in South Bend October 14th that will come in the midst of a nine-week stretch without a buy more on that in a moment and right after they play the Irish USC comes home for a rematch the Pac-12 championship game Utah coming to the Coliseum October 21st boy that is going to be a good time Trojans trying to snap a three-game losing skid to the Utes as we take a look at USC's full 2023 schedule which includes a week Zero game August 26th against San Jose State so Yogi by virtue of that game the Trojans have two buys one coming early in week three and if they were to make it back to the title they would have a buy leading in the Pac-12 championship game yeah and I think that you can look at it both ways and say oh my God it would buy if they do go to the title game Advantage USC but also who wants to have this stretch of nine straight games is your reference oh by the way Utah at Cal craft game UW at Oregon UCLA I mean this is not an easy walk by any stretch of the imagination room or the rotation is changing this year so they get to face UW and Oregon which I know a lot of tactical fans have wanted that matchups you get that at the end of the season but my eyes go to right before Notre Dame they play Arizona and last year Arizona had 543 yards of offense and there's been a lot of talk around USC and defense they've had a bunch of additions from high school and of the transfer portal and I think when you look at the first half of their schedule as of today for what we know it's the best offense they're going to face oh by the way Dorian singer is now playing for USC so I go to that game as one where I can't wait to watch what this defense is and then I think on like the micro level I can't wait to talk to Lincoln Riley about how do you manage workload now right what is your true competitive depth like to go through the gauntlet of 9th Street like do you adjust training camp do you just say no where's just going to ride here do you just practice in the season I mean most teams adjust in November well they just in October for the wear and tear that is natural on the bodies of college football players so there's a lot I'm sure that he's already thought through you know he noted earlier the 600 pages of notes after year one at USC usually two or three hundred I'm curious how many he's gonna have in the off season getting ready for a nine game stretch that they're gonna have to finish it off and we should mention uh the two Conference teams they will not play Washington State and Oregon State that's who the Trojans Miss USC obviously their their season was incredible but didn't end the way that they wanted to back-to-back losses in the championship game and then against Tulane in the Cotton Bowl so where do you think mentally the off season like what's the first thing that Lincoln Riley has taken a close hard look at well I think that they're really hungry I think Lincoln rally been there and done that like he's gotten teams to the playoff before he understands the criticism he knows the chair that he's in at USC as does Alex Grinch as does Kayla Williams he talked about wanting a seat at the table they all have a seat at one of the more Premier tables in college football history and they know the standard there and especially after what they did a year ago being on the doorstep of the playoffs so that's the standard that's the goal and I'd imagine in the basement of you know the John McKay Center in their weight room they're getting after just like every team in the country right now knowing that they fell short of their goal and definitely didn't finish in the style in which they wanted to but this thing is trending up I mean they got some of the top players in the country already in this early signing period they're adding them in the transfer portal and I doubt they're done and most of them on the defensive front at least immediate impact players especially in the portal so I look forward to watching it but I'll tell you what this stretch is not easy because you can't slip up ASU Colorado reference Arizona then Notre Dame Utah Cal is going to be better UW Oregon UC I mean it is going to be earned if they find their way back to Vegas yeah I've got that week 10 matchup against the Huskies circled first time that those two will play since 2019