LOS ANGELES — USC put the finishing touches on its 2024 season with an exciting victory over Texas A&M in the Las Vegas Bowl on Friday night.

The Trojans bookended the season with fun wins over SEC teams, but aside from that, 2024 is going to be a year most USC fans want to forget. The good news is that 2025 is just a day away.

Let’s take a look at some storylines as the program transitions to a new calendar year.

What will happen at quarterback?

Through three quarters of the Las Vegas Bowl, Jayden Maiava posted one of the worst quarterback performances in recent USC memory.

He delivered in the fourth quarter, however, first leading the Trojans on a 79-yard drive to take the lead with under five minutes to play and then on a 75-yard drive to win the game in the final two minutes. His final stat line: 22-of-39 for 295 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions.

It was the perfect illustration of the boom-or-bust nature of Maiava’s game. USC rode that roller coaster on Friday night. Sure, there were smiles at the end, but there were plenty of moments that made you queasy in between.

During an early signing period press conference in December, coach Lincoln Riley said that he would look to add a quarterback to provide “depth” in the transfer portal — not necessarily to push for the starting role. The Trojans have just two scholarship QBs on the roster — Maiava and incoming five-star freshman Husan Longstreet.

Maiava’s performance was shaky enough that it raised questions about him as the starter in 2025. Riley expressed faith in his quarterback after the game.

“I’m very confident in him (as the starter),” Riley said. “I’m very confident.”

We’ll have to wait and see if Riley’s actions match his words and USC rejects the notion of adding a starting-caliber quarterback in the portal.

Even though he started one season at UNLV, Maiava is raw from a mechanics, accuracy and decision-making standpoint. That was the case when he transferred to USC, and it’s still the case a year later.

Riley’s stellar reputation as a quarterback guru is well-earned after producing three Heisman Trophy winners and three No. 1 overall picks (Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray and Caleb Williams). Maiava is going to be a major project if Riley does stick with him as the starter.

He’s a high-variance player. Maiava’s start against Texas A&M wasn’t all that different from his first start against Nebraska a month and a half ago. The main difference was that A&M’s defenders caught three interceptions while the Cornhuskers defensive backs failed to make plays when Maiava put the ball in danger.

Also, the offense wasn’t dramatically better when the change was made at quarterback prior to the Nebraska game.

What Riley will have to determine is whether the highs are consistent enough to justify all the lows that come with Maiava’s game. Based on what we’ve seen to this point, there’s no way to be completely sure.

Could Maiava be a good quarterback with an offseason of development and another year in Riley’s system? Definitely. But it’s unclear if he’ll be good enough to beat the elite defenses USC will face next year, like Oregon, Notre Dame and Michigan. And if he’s not, he won’t take the program to where it wants to go.

USC sat on the sidelines during the quarterback sweepstakes in this portal cycle. All the top options are off the board. Anyone who might be considered an upgrade to Maiava is signed or committed elsewhere. The next portal window doesn’t open until April, which means a potential transfer would miss all of spring practice. That wouldn’t be ideal.

So who knows? Maybe USC does stick with Maiava. Time will tell if it’s the right decision.

Will the front seven make more of an impact next season?

USC finished the season with 21 sacks (tied for 91st among 134 FBS teams) and 53 tackles for loss (tied for 118th).

Coordinator D’Anton Lynn did a great job of improving the defense, but the full impact of his scheme won’t be felt until USC adds some difference-makers up front.

The return of linebacker Eric Gentry and defensive lineman Anthony Lucas should help. But there are still question marks there. Gentry missed most of the season because of concussions and also missed time because of an injury earlier in his career. And for as much as Lucas improved this season, his next sack will be the first of his collegiate career.

USC lacked a difference-making pass rusher this season. It still hasn’t added one through the portal. Incoming five-star defensive lineman Jahkeem Stewart possesses a high ceiling, but it would be a lot to ask of a true freshman to come in and be an impact pass rusher immediately.

The Trojans have added two defensive linemen via the transfer portal this month. Kentucky’s Keeshawn Silver is the headliner. He started 23 games for the Wildcats over the past two seasons and was a five-star prospect during the 2021 recruiting cycle. Silver spent his first two seasons at North Carolina.

He’s not a pass rusher or a twitchy interior defensive lineman who penetrates quickly into the backfield. Silver is a 6-foot-4, 336-pound space eater. He’s likely going to be asked to occupy blockers, not be a disruptor who piles up TFLs. Still, he’s a very good addition for a defense that needs to add size up front.

We’ll see about Georgia transfer Jamaal Jarrett, who is another large defensive lineman at 6-5 and 350 pounds.

Jarrett played sparingly for the Bulldogs and he’s not with them for the College Football Playoff. This is not similar to the Bear Alexander addition a few years ago because Alexander played in key moments for Georgia in 2022.

Jarrett has size and potential — he was a top-200 prospect in the 2023 recruiting cycle — but it’s going to take some work from him and USC’s coaching staff to unlock it. He’s not a pass rusher either.

So USC still has a glaring weakness it needs to address.

How will USC fill its offensive line openings?

The Trojans have vacancies at right tackle and center. There are in-house options. Tobias Raymond started at right tackle in the Las Vegas Bowl while walk-on Kilian O’Connor started at center.

They performed fine. Will it be good enough for the coaching staff to resist dipping into the portal for alternatives?

Raymond has received extended playing time in just two games (the second half against Michigan and the bowl game). So if USC does plug him in at right tackle, expect growing pains. The same goes for O’Connor at center.

The depth at tackle should improve because the Trojans signed two fringe top-150 prospects at the position in their 2025 recruiting class: Alex Payne and Aaron Dunn.

Like last season, it might be wise to bring in a veteran to push Raymond.

O’Connor has been the backup center behind Jonah Monheim (out of eligibility) for the past two seasons and there aren’t many alternatives beyond him. Gino Quinones also worked at center but he transferred. Jason Zandamela was a four-star signee in the 2024 class and would’ve been viewed as the program’s future center, but he transferred in the spring after just a few months with the program. USC simply needs depth there.

On the whole, there are reasons to be optimistic about the Trojans’ offensive line in 2025. Left tackle Elijah Paige and right guard Alani Noa won’t be pups anymore next year. They progressed nicely as this season went on.

Noa and left guard Emmanuel Pregnon give USC two strong run-blocking guards, which should help power that part of the offense.

The key thing to monitor is that USC didn’t miss any starts to injury along the offensive line in 2024. That’s extremely rare and it would be an even bigger anomaly to happen for two consecutive seasons. So the development of some youngsters who are on the second-team line will be significant because one of them will likely be called upon at some point.

What are the other roster needs?

USC has received a commitment from San Jose State corner DJ Harvey. The Trojans have holes both at corner and safety after losing several veterans since the end of the regular season.

UCF transfer corner Chasen Johnson committed to USC but flipped to SMU shortly after. So the staff has been pretty active looking for corner reinforcements.

We’ve already highlighted needs on both sides of the line of scrimmage.

The Trojans could also stand to add an experienced linebacker. They lose starters Easton Mascarenas-Arnold and Mason Cobb. The probable starters are Gentry and Desman Stephens, a rising sophomore. USC needs to add another player it can rely on because there isn’t any experience behind those two.

The Trojans signed two high school running backs (Harry Dalton and Riley Wormley) and added New Mexico transfer Eli Sanders, so they should be fine there. USC is slated to have about eight scholarship receivers but could add another to play alongside Makai Lemon and Ja’Kobi Lane.

And Riley already said a quarterback addition is likely.

Can Riley get the program back on an upward trajectory?

A good argument could be made that USC improved in 2024. The Trojans played with much better effort this season, improved defensively and were never flat-out dominated like they were at times in 2023. But USC regressed record-wise from 8-5 to 7-6, and the Trojans’ win total has declined every year under Riley.

The 2025 season will be his fourth as USC’s coach. There wasn’t any excuse for USC’s season to be as disappointing as it was in 2024. If you want to say it was Year 1 of a rebuild defensively, go for it. But there’s no excuse for another mediocre season in Year 4 of Riley’s tenure.

As noted, he still has to address personnel deficiencies. He has to fill some openings on his coaching staff (tight ends coach and linebackers coach). He’ll have to work with the eventual general manager on building this roster to an elite level, which he hasn’t been able to do to this point. And he has to figure out a way to get the offense — his area of expertise — back on track after a down year.

The whole program has to be better in 2025, and that starts with Riley.