Shortly after USC football won their first intra-Big 10 game against the Wisconsin Badgers, Steve Wiltfong predicted that two 2026 prospects who were in attendance at the Coliseum for a recruiting event would end up in cardinal and gold.
Four-star running back from Oaks Christian Deshonne Redeaux and Rancho Cucamonga cornerback RJ Sermons.
USC Football Impress Recruits With First Big 10 Win
Redeaux ranks number 68 nationally and number 7 among all running backs in the 2026 class. Sermon is the 34th-ranked prospect in the nation and the number 2 corner in the country.
Wiltfong wrote that Sermon was the most coveted prospect in the building which included nearly a dozen high schoolers. Sermons was impressed on a few fronts, how USC treated him and his father, Rodney, a USC alum, and how the team overcame a 10-point halftime deficit.
“USC was great,” Sermons said. “It’s always a good family environment. What excites me about my opportunity with the Trojans is the development aspect with the great defensive coaching staff.”
“Being able to watch them really dominate in that second half was good,” said RJ. “That’s something you don’t see a lot. Also, being in a new conference — the B1G — it’s also good to see them get their first B1G win.”
Redeaux was also impressed during his latest visit.
“Just the way the Trojans are bringing the atmosphere and not letting the Big Ten affect them and bringing that heat every game,” Redeaux said. “USC is a really good team this year and Coach Riley is doing a good job.”
Wiltfong gives the USC Trojans a 95.3 percent chance of earning Sermons’s commitment with no other school giving more than a 1 percent chance.
Wiltfong is still split on his prediction for Redeaux, but USC gets the edge over cross-town rival, UCLA. He gives UCLA a 34.7 percent chance and USC 62.7 percent.
