Welcome to the Sports Report, our weekday morning newsletter covering L.A. sports. It’s compiled and hosted by Times sports newsletter editor Houston Mitchell. To sign up to receive it via email (it’s free), go here .

From Ryan Kartje : Five years ago, when USC first scheduled this 2025 season opener, the plan had been to go big, to test itself with a marquee, nonconference opponent that not only bolstered the Trojans’ strength of schedule but also captured the attention of college football. So, at the time, USC agreed to a home-and-home meeting with Mississippi, when Lane Kiffin , the Trojans’ former coach, would make his much-anticipated return to the Coliseum.

That matchup, of course, never came to fruition. The entire landscape of college football was upended in the meantime.

See Full Page