USC
San Jose State
Players Mentioned
No. 6 USC Football Opens 2023 Season At Home vs. San José State
August 22, 2023 | Football
*No. 6 USC will open the 2023 season against San José State from the Mountain West Conference in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The game will air nationally on the Pac-12 Network.
*This is the highest the Trojans have been ranked in the Preseason AP Poll since 2017 when USC was ranked No. 4.
*It is also the highest ranking since USC was ranked No. 6 on Sept 25, 2022.
*USC is 5-0 against San José State with all of the games being played at the Coliseum.
*The Trojans are 34-1-1 against schools from the Mountain West Conference.
*The San José State game on Aug. 26 is the earliest the Trojans have opened a season since 1996, when they did so on Aug. 25 (a 24-7 loss to Penn State in Kickoff Classic XIV in Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey). That 1996 Penn State game is USC's earliest season opener in the modern era (in 1893, USC opened the season on Jan. 14). Previously, the earliest USC season opener in the Coliseum was Aug. 30, in both 1997 (a 27-17 win over Purdue) and 2014 (a 52-13 win over Fresno State).
*The Trojans have captured their last 15 season openers in the Coliseum, dating back to 1997.
*Head coach Lincoln Riley is 6-0 in season openers.
*In his first season as USC's head coach in 2022, the 39-year-old led the Trojans to have equaled the biggest one-season victory turnaround (+7 victories) in USC history (USC's 1962 national champs won 11 games after winning just 4 in 1961).
*Riley tied the record for most victories by a first-year head coach with 11 (tied with John Robinson in 1976. This also ties the Pac-12 record).
*USC went undefeated in the Coliseum (7-0), doing so for the first time since 2017.
*Since concluding the 2022 season, the motto for the 2023 squad is "The longer it goes, the better we get."
SAN JOSÉ STATE SCOUTING REPORT
*Head coach Brent Brennan has been at San José State since 2017. He is 27-42.
*The Spartans return 14 starters this season.
*Last year, SJSU went 7-5 (5-3 in conference) and played in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, losing to Eastern Michigan 41-27.
*QB Chevan Cordeiro, the 2023 Mountain West Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, returns for his senior season. After transferring from Hawaii in 2022, he threw for a career-high 3,251 yards and a careerhigh 23 TDs, both of which topped the Mountain West Conference. He was 259-of-427 (.601) and threw 6 INTs. He also ran for a career-high 9 TDs, the most for an SJSU QB in the modern era.
*RB Kairee Robinson ran for a career-high 752 yards and had a career-high 10 rushing TDs (fifth in the Mountain West).
*WR Justin Lockheart, named to the 2023 Mountain West Preseason All-Conference Team had 36 catches for 578 yards and 1 TD in 2022.
*The Spartan offensive line returns 4 starters led by 317-pound C Anthony Pardue.
*Defensively, the Spartan pass rush was the best in the Mountain West in 2022.
*Out of the 39 sacks produced from last season, 26 of those were executed by players who have moved on. The Spartans will feel the loss of DL Vilami Fehoko (2022 Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year) and DL Cade Hall (2020 Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year) and will need new players to step up to replace the sack production.
*LB Bryun Parham had 93 tackles, including 6 TFLs and 3 sacks, and 2 forced fumbles in 2022.
*S Tre Jenkins had 60 tackles, 7 TFLs and tied a career-high 2 INTs in 2022.
RANKINGS
*USC is ranked No. 6 in the latest AP Poll and 6th in the USA Today Coaches Poll. San José State is not ranked.
SERIES
*USC is 5-0 all-time against San Jose State, with all of the games held at the Coliseum.
*The most recent encounter with the Spartans occurred in the fall of 2021, where the Trojans won 30-7 in the Coliseum.
VERSUS MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE
*USC is 34-1-1 (.958) against Mountain West opponents (does not include 2 wins vacated due to NCAA penalty; original record 36-1-1, .961)
IN SEPTEMBER
*USC has a 192-55-8 (.769) all-time record while playing in the month of September (does not include 3 wins vacated due to NCAA penalty; original record: 195-55-8, .771).
OPENERS
*USC's record in all season openers is 97-24-8 (.783), with 36 shutout victories. In season openers at home, the Trojans are 69-16-7 (.788), including wins in their last 15 dating to 1997 (does not include 1 win vacated due to NCAA penalty; original record: 98-24-8, .785 overall).
*USC's record for home openers is 101-19-7 (.823) (does not include 1 home and 1 road win vacated due to NCAA penalty; original record: 102-19-7, .824 at home).
IN COLISEUM
*USC has a 461-146-27 (.748) all-time record in the Coliseum since the stadium opened in 1923 (not including 6 wins vacated due to NCAA penalty; original record: 467-146-27, .751). USC's 640 games played in the Coliseum (including the 6 vacated wins) is the third most that any school has played in its home stadium (behind Georgia Tech's 718 in Bobby Dodd Stadium and Tennessee's 643 in Neyland Stadium).
AT NIGHT
*USC is 189-77-4 (.707) at night, including 112-35-4 in the Coliseum, 62-33 on the road and 15-9 at neutral sites (does not include 5 wins and 1 loss vacated due to NCAA penalty; original record: 194-78-4, .710 overall, 115-35-4 in the Coliseum, 17-10 at neutral sites).
USC-SAN JOSÉ STATE CONNECTIONS
*USC OL Andres Dewerk is a San José, Calif. native and attended Los Gatos High School.
*USC DL Sinjun Astani previously played at San José State from 2017-2021.
*USC has 6 players who previously attended a Bay Area school: DL De'jon Benton (Pittsburg HS), OL Andres Dewerk (Los Gatos HS), CB Prophet Brown (Monterey Trail HS), RB Austin Jones (Bishop O'Dowd HS), OL Alani Noa (Grant Union HS) and OL Amos Talalele (Santa Clara HS).
*USC defensive backs coach / defensive passing game coordinator Donte Williams spent 3 seasons (2013-15) at San José State, coaching the cornerbacks the first season and serving as the secondary coach and recruiting coordinator the final 2 seasons.
*USC RUSH Solomon Byrd and San José State OL Malik Williams previously played together at Wyoming in 2020 and 2021.
*USC OL Gino Quinones and San José State QB Chevan Cordeiro previously played together at Saint Louis HS in Honolulu, Hawai'i.
*USC PK-P Garth White and San José State WR Sebastian Macaluso previously played together at Ventura Community College and Oaks Christian HS.
*USC DL Korey Foreman and San José State WR Branden Alvarez previously played together at Centennial HS.
*USC OL Alani Noa, RB Matt Colombo, DL Kobe Pepe and San José State RB Jabari Bates, DL Jairus Satele, DB Hunter Nowell and OL Marist Talavou all prepped at St. John Bosco HS.
*USC CB L Simpson and San José State DB DJ Harvey previously played together at Sierra Canyon HS.
*WR Zachariah and S Zion Branch's father, Shéva, played fullback for San José State.
*USC men's basketball assistant coach Jay Morris spent the 2017-2018 season in a similar role at San José State.
*USC track and field assistant coach Jeff Petersmeyer previously served as the head track and field coach at San José State from 2013-2018.
*San José State DB Chase Williams previously played at USC, appearing in 20 games for the Trojans from 2018-2020.
*San José State has 18 players who previously attended a Los Angeles County school: WR Kejuan Bullard Jr. (San Pedro HS), QB Jay Butterfield (Liberty HS), WR Matthew Coleman (Junipero Serra HS), QB Walker Eget (West Ranch HS), DL Dylan Hampsten (Oaks Christian HS), DB DJ Harvey (Sierra Canyon HS), RB Jakob Galloway (Banning HS), WR Justin Lockhart (Junipero Serra HS), OL James McNorton (Liberty HS), LB Jordan Pollard (Faith Lutheran HS), WR Charles Ross (Culver City HS), LB Matthew Tago (Quartz Hill HS), DL Jairus Satele (St. John Bosco HS), DB Hunter Nowell (St. John Bosco HS), LB Alexander Cobbs (St. Anthony HS), LB Brady Van Bennekum (West Ranch HS), DL Vaka Hansen (St. John Bosco HS) and WR Nicholas Williams (Quartz Hill HS)
*San José State outside linebackers coach Rob Christoff is the son of former USC assistant coach A.J. Christoff (2000).
*San José State men's basketball assistant coach David Miller is the son of former USC men's basketball assistant Dave Miller.
