For the third time this week, USC had a high-profile commit -- the most high-profile in this case -- decommit Sunday.
But in this case, the Trojans were more than ready.
As five-star quarterback Julian Lewis, who had been committed to USC since August of 2023, was visiting Georgia this weekend and set to back off his Trojans pledge Sunday, the USC staff had already amplified its efforts to flip four-star QB Husan Longstreet from Texas A&M.
Longstreet, out of nearby Corona Centennial High School, is ranked the No. 8 pro-style QB and No. 83 overall national prospect by Rivals.
USC QBs coach Luke Huard was on the sideline at Longstreet's playoff game Friday night, and then Longstreet was in attendance at the Trojans' win over Nebraska on Saturday, talking further with Huard afterward and reportedly announcing his flip in the locker room.
Per MaxPreps, in nine games this season for Corona Centennial, Longstreet has passed for 1,641 yards, 19 touchdowns and 4 interceptions and rushed for 494 yards and 6 TDs.
As a junior last fall, he passed for 3,013 yards, 24 TDs and 6 INTs and rushed for 645 yards and 7 touchdowns.
USC coach Lincoln Riley has often been at his best with mobile dual-threat quarterbacks like Kyle Murray, Jalen Hurts and Caleb Williams (even Baker Mayfield ran for 405 yards and 7 TDs one season), and he is now reworking the Trojans' offense around another mobile QB in Jayden Maiava, who made his starting debut Saturday.
With displaced starter Miller Moss expected to transfer out after the season, USC would enter 2025 with Maiava, Longstreet and former JUCO transfer Jake Jensen on the QB depth chart.
Maiava is not locked in as the 2025 starter yet, but he has at least two more games this season to make his case for the job. It's always possible Riley could look to bring in a transfer quarterback if he's not comfortable with having only Maiava, a true freshman and a depth piece in Jensen who has not played any significant snaps for the Trojans.
But that likely only happens if Riley feels Maiava is not the guy for the job and thus pursues a proven veteran QB in the transfer portal. It's a harder sell to get a quarterback to transfer without a clear path to a starting job. The Trojans were fortunate to find Maiava from UNLV last offseason, but he was a unique case.
Most likely, Longstreet will step into a situation in which he's immediately the backup with a chance to push Maiava, who has plenty to prove still.
So what exactly are the Trojans getting in Longstreet? Let's take a closer look ...
