The USC Trojans football program, established in 1888, is a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I-A and the Pacific Ten Conference (Pac-10) under head coach Pete Carroll. The Trojans have been a football powerhouse throughout NCAA history, making claim to 11 national championships in total. In recent years, USC has consistently ranked in the top 5 of the final BCS and AP Polls. The football team is regarded as the centerpiece of an athletic program that has won more NCAA men's individual and men's team titles than any other university and is third in co-ed team titles, behind fellow Pac-10 schools UCLA and Stanford.

Rivalries
In the first 30 years of USC football, the school maintained rivalries with local Southern California schools like Occidental and Pomona, but these ended by the 1920s as USC grew into a national caliber team.

A "Perfect Day"
A "Perfect Day" (a phrase created by the school's football announcer Peter Arbogast) to any USC fan is a USC win, coupled with losses by ND, and UCLA. The last regular season "Perfect Day" occurred on November 10, 2007, when USC beat California, UCLA lost to Arizona State, and ND lost to Air Force. However, during the post-season of 2004, USC won the Orange Bowl (and Nat. Title), UCLA lost the Las Vegas Bowl, and ND lost the Insight Bowl. This also occurred during the post-season of 2006 when USC beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl, UCLA lost to Florida State in the Emerald Bowl, and Notre Dame lost to LSU in the Sugar Bowl.

Notre Dame
The First Jeweled ShillelaghUSC plays the University of Notre Dame each year for the Jeweled Shillelagh. A majority of Trojan alumni and fans consider the Notre Dame Fighting Irish USC's greatest gridiron rival. The intersectional game has featured more national championship teams, Heisman trophy winners, All-Americans, and future NFL hall-of-famers than any other collegiate match-up. The two schools have kept the annual game on their schedules since 1926 (except 1942-44 because of World War II travel restrictions) despite the fact that it enjoys neither the possibility of acquiring regional "bragging rights" nor the import of intra-league play that drive most rivalries. The game is often referred to as the greatest intersectional rivalry in college football.[12]

UCLA
USC's possession of the Victory Bell.The rivalry with UCLA is unique in that they are the only Division I-A programs in major conferences that share a major city, with the two schools located approximately 10 miles apart. The crosstown rivals play each year for city bragging rights and the Victory Bell, and often the right to go to the Rose Bowl. UCLA is often the focus of student supporters since many USC students have friends or family members attending "that other school" (of course, many UCLA students refer to their USC friends in the same way) and many Southern California families are evenly divided between Trojan Cardinal and Bruin Blue. USC UCLA Lexus Gaunlet.Still, the fan base, in general, tends to emphasize the Notre Dame rivalry over the UCLA rivalry. A common saying among USC supporters bears this out: "There's nothing better than beating Notre Dame and nothing worse than losing to UCLA." The USC/UCLA rivalry runs so deep that when the Trojan Marching Band plays one of their most famous stands tunes Tusk at any of their games...the crowd will be heard singing along "u-c-l-a- sucks." The 2007 match-up between USC and UCLA was predicted to be the #17 game to watch in 2007 by SI.com's "Top 20 Games To Watch In 2007" list. [13]

Stanford
Stanford is USC's oldest rival,in a series that dates to 1905. In the early years of football on the West Coast, the power sat in the Bay Area with the Stanford-Cal rivalry and USC rose to challenge the two established programs. During the early and mid-20th century Stanford football occasionally enjoyed periods of great regional success on the gridiron. USC and Stanford, being two major private universities on the west coast naturally drew the ire of one another. In recent history, however, Stanford has not maintained their earlier success and the rivalry has faded to many USC fans; although many Stanford fans retain a hatred for SC.[14] Recent highlights of this rivalry include a 24-23 upset of No. 2 USC by Stanford, in Los Angeles, on 6 Oct. 2007.

California
Like Stanford, the University of California, Berkeley also had an early rivalry with USC, with Cal fans maintaining a one-sided hatred for USC for many years after USC fans started to focus more on the nearby campus of UCLA.[14] However, after USC's triple overtime loss to California in 2003, some began to suggest that a new budding rivalry between the Trojans and the Golden Bears was taking shape within the Pac-10. A close 2004 game between the two teams furthered feelings of a rivalry. Talk diminished with USC's lopsided victory in Berkeley in 2005; however, the importance of the 2006 USC-Cal game, which decided the Pac-10's BCS berth, has rekindled rivalry talk.

See the USC Trojans play live:

USC Trojans Profiles
Joe McKnight: RB
Joe McKnight is a potential difference maker regardless of which position he plays, and he has great football speed despite what his actual 40 time may indicate. He is a jack of all trades and reminds us a lot of a young Eric Metcalf

Mark Sanchez: QB
Mark Sanchez was a highly recruited player and arrived at the University of Southern California in 2005. Mark Sanchez did not play during his freshman year and redshirted.

Chauncey Washington: RB
Another Reggie Bush in the making Chauncey Washington was often nicknamed "The General", perhaps because in the USC's armed forces on the football field he is next in line to the "President" that is Reggie. To his friends, Chauncey Washington is simply "C-Dub".

Aaron Corp: QB
Aaron Corp is a versatile quarterback that can pull the ball down and take off if he has to. He a tough player and knows the game. "I'm good at making my leads and getting the ball where it needs to be. I think I'm a very mobile QB".

Mitch Mustain: QB
Mitch Mustain was one of the most sought-after high school recruits by college football programs during the 2005-2006 school year.