It took USC just two days to replace four-star offensive tackle Carde Smith in this 2025 recruiting class after he decommitted from the Trojans on Wednesday.

On Friday, the Trojans completed a flip of their own for four-star Rivals250 OT Alex Payne, out of Gainesville, Georgia.

Payne, ranked the No. 19 OT and No. 194 overall national prospect, had been committed to North Carolina since January. He's listed at

Payne is the 22nd overall commitment for USC, which is No. 14 in the Rivals recruiting rankings, and he's the fourth offensive line commit in this class for the Trojans along with fellow four-star OTs Elijah Vaikona (Santa Margarita Catholic), Aaron Dunn (Spanish Fork, Utah) and three-star C Willi Wascher (Bellevue, Washington).

Payne, listed at 6-foot-5, 265 pounds, is the highest-rated of that group and the Trojans' sixth Rivals250 commit as the early signing period (Dec. 4-6) approaches.

Here's a fuller look at USC's 2025 recruiting class and how it ranks.

Three years into this coaching regime, USC is still rebuilding the foundation of its offensive line for the future with hopes of becoming less dependent on the transfer portal there moving forward. In fact, the Trojans didn't land a transfer offensive linemen this past year (though they wanted one), but depth will be tested further with center Jonah Monheim and potentially left guard Emmauel Pregnon moving on to the next level after this season.

The only sure things moving forward for USC up front seem to be left tackle Elijah Paige, who has progressed significantly through his redshirt freshman season and right guard Alani Noa, who is also coming on strong as a redshirt freshman.

Veteran right tackle Mason Murphy has another year of eligibility but has had his struggles most weeks. He just hasn't been pushed by the Trojans' young depth, with redshirt freshman Tobias Raymond the other tackle who seems even close to being ready for game work.

Therefore, it was essential that USC bring in another promising group of offensive linemen in this class, and they're positioned to do so now after flipping Dunn (6-foot-8, 290 pounds) from Utah in October, landing towering local prospect Vaikona (6-8, 365) over the summer and addressing their big-picture need at center with Wascher.

Add in now Payne, who could end up at either tackle or guard, and that's a solid group for offensive line coach Josh Henson and the staff.

Rivals recruiting analyst Sam Spiegelman's scouting report of Payne:

"I got to see him in a live evaluation, kind of a tweener between right tackle but possibly an interior offensive lineman. But a really well-formed frame, about 6-foot-4.5, 290, close to 300 pounds. Great footwork, very fluid hips. He's naturally very strong, but of course is going to have an opportunity to build on his frame and continue to develop strength as he gets into a college program. But you love to see these athletic type of offensive linemen. This is the type of bodies that are pretty sound and seamless in pass protection, which is obviously the biggest step as they go from high school to college. But also Alex is a very good, reliable blocker [in the run game]. Even though he's playing tackle, I think he could slide inside for the Trojans."