(Photo credit: Nathan Papes/Springfield News-Leader / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

Southern California welcomes Missouri State to the ranks of the Football Bowl Subdivision when the programs meet on Saturday in Los Angeles.

USC embarks on a pivotal 2025 campaign against the fledgling FBS program, which is in its first season as a Conference USA member.

The Bears were members of the Missouri Valley Conference from 1986 through last season, reaching the playoffs just four times with the most recent appearance coming in 2021. In their final season of FCS membership, however, the Bears finished 8-4 to match the program's highest win total of the past 34 years.

Missouri State's 2025 season of firsts includes Saturday's first-ever matchup pitting it against traditional powerhouse USC. Saturday will also mark the debut of a variety of transfers into the program, including defensive lineman DJ Wesolak from Oregon State.

'Missouri State moving up [to FBS] helped a lot,' Wesolak, a Missouri native, said of his decision to join the Bears. 'A lot of [the transfers] were just like me; they were just trying to find a home where they could ball out.'

USC, meanwhile, returns to the field from its own season of firsts after debuting in the Big Ten. The Trojans faced growing pains in their inaugural campaign, going 4-5 in the conference and 7-6 overall.

But winning three of the last four, including a Las Vegas Bowl defeat of Texas A&M, sent USC into the offseason with some positive momentum. So, too, did the play of returning quarterback Jayden Maiava.

The UNLV transfer Maiava took over for Miller Moss as the starter Nov. 16 vs. Nebraska and threw for three or more touchdowns in four starts. He also rushed for two touchdowns in USC's lone loss over that stretch to national runner-up Notre Dame.

He finished the season with 101 receptions for 1,201 yards with 11 touchdowns and six interceptions. He added four rushing touchdowns.

Entering 2025 with Maiava entrenched as the starter, USC will look to him to elevate his game further, including in the locker room.

'That stretch for Jayden when he became the starter, it was kind of fast and furious,' Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley said. 'At the end, when [the coaching staff] and he got a chance to catch our breath a little bit, and say, 'How did this go?'...One of the things [offensive coordinator Luke] Huard and myself spent a lot of time with [Maiava] on was the leadership piece.'

--Field Level Media