The USC Trojans (3-4, 1-4 Big Ten) host the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (4-3, 1-3) at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Friday, October 25 in one of several major events taking place in the city . including Game 1 of the World Series, Lakers at Crypto.com Arena, East LA classic at SoFi Stadium and concerts at the Intuit Dome and Forum.

Friday’s game starts at 8:00 PM PT and will air on FOX. However, because the World Series will air on the same channel, if the USC game airs after 8:00 PM PT, it will air on FS1 and the FOX Sports app, along with KCOP in Los Angeles (Channel 13) .

After the World Series postgame show, FOX will transition to live coverage of the game between USC and Rutgers from FS1/KCOP.

This article will be updated live throughout the game. The most recent news will be posted below.

3:00 PM – USC wins the coin toss and has elected to receive.

Foreplay

USC looks to snap a three-game skid after falling to the Maryland Terrapins in their final fourth-quarter collapse last Saturday, a common theme for the Trojans this season.

After the two-minute timeout, the Trojans were lining up for a field goal to make a nine-point game when the kick was blocked, Maryland recovered and brought it back into USC territory. Five plays later, Billy Armstrong Jr. scored. the go-ahead touchdown with 53 seconds left in regulation, giving the Terrapins a 29-28 victory. It was the fifth time in the Lincoln Riley era that the Trojans have blown a 14-point lead. Former USC legends, including Matt Leinart, LenDale White and Rey Maualuga, expressed their frustrations with the program on social media after the loss.

USC has held a fourth-quarter lead in all seven games this season, but sits here with four losses before the end of October and watched their college playoff chances evaporate with half the season remaining.

“We’ve played really close in a lot of games; we had some opportunities to break up in some of these games and we didn’t, and we’ve got to get better at that,” USC coach Lincoln Riley said.

As the Trojans enter this game, there is a lot of pressure to finish the season strong, especially with Riley, and that starts tonight.

Rutgers will also look to snap a three-game losing streak of their own as they make the 3,000-mile trip west in the first-ever meeting between the two programs. The Scarlet Knights jumped out to a 4-0 start this season but have dropped their last three, including one last week, to the Trojans’ rival, the UCLA Bruins.

USC announced as captains Lake McRee, cornerback DeCarlos Nicholson, center Jonah Monheim and safety Akili Arnold.

According to FanDuel Sportsbook, the Trojans are 13.5-point favorites over Rutgers. USC is 4-3 against the spread this season.