Jayden Maiava, Southern California Football News: Draft Scout Player News

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09/21/25 - QB Jayden Maiava, rJr/2027, Southern California

Jayden Maiava and the Southern California offense appeared to be rolling to another comfortable victory when a scary injury for Michigan State and a series of big mistakes by the Trojans tightened up their late-night meeting once again. The No. 25 Trojans shook it all off and comfortably finished off the biggest challenge yet to their unbeaten start. Maiava threw three touchdown passes and rushed for two more scores, and Makai Lemon made a 40-yard TD catch and ran for another score in USC's 45-31 victory on Saturday night. Maiava passed for 236 yards, Waymond Jordan rushed for 157 yards and Lemon had 127 yards receiving in a fourth straight comfortable victory for USC (4-0, 2-0 Big Ten), which is off to its best start since coach Lincoln Riley's first season in 2022.

Tanook Hines and Walker Lyons also caught TD passes as the Trojans surged away near halftime and capably handled a late rally by the Spartans (3-1, 0-1) to win the new conference rivals' first meeting since 1990. "That was a game that had some unique twists and turns," Riley said. "I thought we were controlling the game, (and then) obviously we had a couple of errors there in the third quarter with the penalties...and the turnover that allowed them to come back and capture some momentum. But I thought our team responded and separated back in a really good way. A lot to learn from. A lot that's got to continue to get better, but if you're learning lessons as you win, it's hard not to be excited." Long Beach native Aidan Chiles threw three touchdown passes and rushed for another score for the Spartans, who fell short of only their second 4-0 start in the past decade. Chiles accounted for 243 of the Spartans' 333 total yards. While USC's offense marched up and down the field and didn't punt until the final minute, the defense made repeated mistakes in coverage and in discipline, accounting for most of the Trojans' 10 penalties. - USC/AP College Football

rJr/2027