The USC Trojans Have 4 Freshmen Who Already Have Awards

Lincoln Riley and the USC Trojans have four freshmen who have been named Big Ten Freshman of the Week heading into week seven.

Wide receiver Trent Mosley, defensive end Luke Wafle, running back Riley Wormley and tight end Mark Bowman have each taken turns this season being named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week.

This is significant for head coach Lincoln Riley who has also been named to the Bobby Dodd watchlist, given annually to the best head coach in college football. 

Of the four players to receive the honor, three of them came from the No.1 recruiting class signed by Riley in 2026. Wormley is a redshirt freshman and was signed in 2025.

Bowman was the first of the freshmen to be honored this season. Against the Louisana Ragin’ Cajans Bowan caught six passes for two touchdowns. Bowman has started since the first game of the season. He has been compared to Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers.

He received the honor on September 14.

Against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights Wormley had 54 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns. Riley has been great on outside zone plays and averages 5.5 yards per carry.

Wafle was the No.1 player in the country coming out of high school. He has started every game this season for USC.  Wafle is drawing comparisons to former Ohio State Buckeye and NFL great Joey Bosa. 

Mosley is considered the best player on the team by many college football analysts. Mosley has 22 receptions for 366 yards and 5 scores. He also has scored on a punt return. He was voted Mr. Football in California is senior year in high school.

On a side note, Jayden Maiava is not a freshman, but he did take home the Big Ten Player of the Week award for his week 0 performance against San Jose St.

Maiava is also on the Johnny Unitus award watch list which is given annually to the top college quarterback. 

The USC Trojans are 6-1 and have a clear path to the playoffs if they can stay healthy. 

Riley has stated on many occasions this offseason that “the championship window is open”.

Most of this rhetoric came in the offseason.

Watching his 6-1 USC team this season you see that he was referring to the quality freshman he knew he had on his team. 

USC has a bye this weekend. They will travel to Camp Randall to play the Wisconsin Badgers on October 24