The USC Trojans look to get back on track Saturday afternoon with a win over the No. 4 ranked Penn State Nittany Lions at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

ESPN’s College Gameday crew previewed and picked the matchup Saturday morning. What did they have to say about the Trojans?

College Gameday live from Eugene, Oregon

ESPN’s College Gameday was live from Eugene, Oregon on Saturday morning for the top-three showdown between the No. 3 Oregon Ducks and No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes.

The gameday crew was not at full strength as Lee Corso was not there due to health issues. Kirk Herbstreit was present for the start of the show, but had to leave early to fly to Texas for the Red River Rivalry between Oklahoma and Texas. Herbstreit will announce the match, which starts at 12:30 PM PST.

Everyone prefers Penn State over USC

The entire gameday crew of Desmond Howard, Nick Saban, Pat McAfee, Kirk Herbstreit and guest selector Kaitlin Olson all picked the Nittany Lions to go to the Coliseum and come out with a win.

The Nittany Lions are currently a 3.5-point road favorite per DraftKings Sportsbook.

“Big Ten football has been tough for USC. I think that is still the case today. Give me Penn State to beat USC. said Pat McAfee.

The Trojans are off to a 1-2 start in their first season as a member of the Big Ten.

For USC, it could be a good thing that everyone picked against them. The curse of the picks graphic could be hitting Penn State.

Can Trojans take away the anger?

The USC Trojans had a dream start to the 2024 season. USC got a big neutral court game against a tough No. 13 LSU team. USC then followed that up with a 48-0 drubbing of the Utah State Aggies to enter the bye week with a 2-0 record.

After the bye, USC went into the Big House in Ann Arbor and lost 27-24 to the Michigan Wolverines. It looked like USC was getting back on track the following week against Wisconsin, but that was immediately followed by a 24-17 loss to the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

Penn State is 5-0 and has one of the best defenses in the country. If the Trojans want to beat them, they’ll have to be able to give quarterback Miller Moss time in the pocket. Against Michigan and Minnesota, the Trojans’ offensive line was outplayed, resulting in multiple Moss turnovers. Moss has also taken far too many shots from defenders. I would expect Trojans coach Lincoln Riley to take this tack in Saturday’s game with more creative pass-blocking schemes.

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