For many, USC's football season ended with a thud last weekend when it came up short against rival Notre Dame to settle with an abjectly disappointing 6-6 regular-season finish.

But the Trojans aren't done yet. On Sunday, USC accepted an invitation to play in the Las Vegas Bowl on Dec. 27 at Allegiant Stadium against Texas A&M (8-4).

Once again, though, the Trojans will look to use the bowl season as a reset and turn of the page and, ideally, a springboard into 2025.

Less than four months after USC started its season with a momentous win over LSU in Allegiant Stadium, it will return with only what-ifs from all that followed since that stirring debut -- all the dramatic losses in the final minutes and blown fourth quarter leads.

Fans are already venting on social media that Arizona State, hit with NCAA penalties in the wake of Herm Edwards' disastrous tenure, has already recovered in two seasons under coach Kenny Dillingham to win a Big 12 championship and a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff while Lincoln Riley's Trojans have gone backwards each of the last two years since his impressive 11-win debut. All while fellow former Pac-12 foe Oregon now sits atop the college football world as the Big Ten champion and No. 1 seed in the CFP.

What Riley and USC have to sell is the future -- what's done is done this season.

Last year, the Trojans were in a similar spot after a 7-5 regular-season and used the Holiday Bowl vs. Louisville as a reset for new leaders to take over in December practices and provide some momentum heading into the season.

Miller Moss did that with his 6-touchdown performance in USC's 42-28 bowl win, yet that momentum fizzled over the course of this trying season as Moss was eventually benched in favor of Jayden Maiava.

Maiava has already had a three-game runway and showcase, passing for 840 yards, 7 TDs, 3 INTs and rushing for 3 TDs in that span while going 2-1 with wins over Nebraska and UCLA.

Now, he returns home to Las Vegas, where he spent most of his high school years while looking to further his case to be the starter in 2025.

Riley acknowledged the Trojans will pursue a quarterback in the transfer portal, but it's not known yet if that will be more of a depth consideration or a proven QB to truly challenge Maiava (and incoming freshman Husan Longstreet) for the job.

In the meantime, all eyes will be on Maiava and his final audition for the starting job.

"I have a lot of confidence in Jayden. He played well, led us to two big victories, and I thought really put us in great position the other day against statistically the No. 1 passing defense in the country that he did a pretty good job against. I think he’s going to continue to progress and get better and better," Riley said this week. "We obviously have a ton of confidence in both he and Husan and what that room has a chance to become. We’re going to put a lot of emphasis, a lot of reps, a lot of time into those two guys. On top of their skill sets, I just love the way those two guys are wired. We obviously have to get someone else in some role to fill out a room and make sure we’re doing right by the team. But if you told me next year we’re going in with those two guys, like I feel like we will, I’m very, very excited about it."

Riley noted that Longstreet, the four-star QB from Corona Centennial HS who signed with the program on Wednesday, may even be able to take part in bowl practices with the Trojans. Notably, Longstreet was a longtime Texas A&M commit before flipping last month to USC.

"We’re hopeful to obviously get him here and get him started quickly. He’ll potentially be here for some of the bowl practices, if that times out with the bowl announcement," Riley said. "But we’re going to be aggressive with these guys to try and get them ready as fast as we can."

Meanwhile, it remains to be seen who will and won't play in the bowl game. It's unlikely that star running back Woody Marks plays in the game, as his mother tweeted last weekend about it being his final college game.

Left guard Emmanuel Pregnon is expected to leave for the NFL draft, center Jonah Monheim is out of eligibility and also headed to the NFL, third-leading receiver Kyron Hudson has already announced his plans to transfer out, safety Kamari Ramsey has an NFL draft decision to make, the rest of the starting secondary (cornerbacks Jaylin Smith and Jacobe Covington, safety Akili Arnold, nickel Greedy Vance Jr., along with backup corners John Humphrey and DeCarlos Nicholson and backup safety Bryson Shaw) are all on their way out after this season leaving their bowl status in flux, ditto for starting linebackers Mason Cobb and Easton Mascarenas-Arnold (though star LB Eric Gentry hinted on Twitter that he's back for the bowl game after sitting out the final three-fourths of the season due to concussions) and defensive tackles Gavin Meyer and Nate Clifton.

So will exactly will suit up for the Trojans will come into clearer focus as transfer announcements continue and when bowl practices officially start.

On the other side of the matchup is a Texas A&M team that went 8-4 and 5-3 in the SEC in its first season under coach Mike Elko, with losses in three of its final four games to South Carolina, Auburn and Texas.

The Aggies also made a late QB change, benching starter Conner Weigman in favor of redshirt freshman Marcel Reed for the final four games. Reed, who also got some significant playing time early in the season, has passed for 1,572 yards, 12 TDs and 4 INTs and rushed for 501 yards and 6 TDs.

Le'Veon Moss led the Aggies with 765 rushing yards (6.3 yards per carry) and 10 touchdowns before a season-ending injury last month, leaving junior Amari Daniels (661 yards, 4.8 YPC, 8 TDs) as the team's top back. Junior Noah Thomas leads the team with 34 catches for 545 yards and 6 TDs.

Texas A&M ranks tied for 47th nationally in scoring at 30.3 points per game and 29th in scoring defense, giving up 21.2 PPG. For comparison, USC ranks 50th in scoring (29.8 PPG) and 56th in scoring defense (23.5 PPG).

The teams had two common opponents: LSU (USC won 27-20 in Las Vegas, Texas A&M won 38-23 at home) and Notre Dame (USC lost 49-35 at home, Texas A&M lost 23-13 at home).

USC is 2-1 all-time vs. Texas A&M, but the programs haven't played each other since 1977 when the Trojans won 47-28 in the Bluebonnet Bowl in Houston.