USC football doesn't look like it needs to prepare for Rutgers quarterback Dylan Lonergan amid his injury. But the Trojans must roll without impact freshman wide receiver Trent Mosley. The pivotal College Football Recruiting find for USC landed on the Big Ten injury report Wednesday.

Mosley is battling what's being described as a knee injury. His head coach Lincoln Riley shared the unfortunate news with reporters, including if this ailment is long-term.

“We'll just continue monitoring it. Don't expect it to be extremely long term, but still a little inconclusive at this time, depending on how he responds,” Riley said during his presser.

So this rises as a massive first blow for the USC offense. Mosley started to show his impact early post Ja'Kobi Lane and Makai Lemon. The star freshman started to find soft spots in coverage just like the latter wideout and showed his advanced run-after-catch ability.

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Mosley delivered two 100-yard games against San Jose State and Fresno State to start the season. He added special teams value too as a return man, including breaking off an 86-yard punt return. He averaged 19.6 yards per catch prior to the injury.

Riley fortunately has a deep wideout room to work with as Mosley takes a rest. Fellow freshman Kayden Dixon-Wyatt has earned snaps and flashed his potential across the first three games. USC is expected to insert North Carolina State transfer Terrell Anderson too, who received less than five snaps against Louisiana. Anderson can help fill on the return side too.

USC heads out to Piscataway, New Jersey Thursday and will play its first road contest of 2026 against Rutgers on Saturday.