As the college football season winds down, the recruiting world is heating up like a preseason grill. The teams that couldn’t do much in the season and were left behind at the bottom of the conference are dead focusing on their upcoming years’ roster, flipping the top talents ahead of the national signing day. Michigan pulled off a stunning Bryce Underwood move after weeks of going back and forth. Colorado flipped Julian Lewis. The USC Trojans are heavily eying five-star defensive lineman Jahkeem Stewart. There are essentially a lot of other competitors lurking behind for their turn, but for the time being, USC is not in a place to move an inch.

Stewart stands out as a massive five-star recruit from the class of 2025 after his supreme high school tenure. Per On3, Stewart has been awarded a No. 16 spot player in the nation, the No. 3 defensive lineman in the recruiting class, and the No. 1 player in Louisiana. It’s no surprise that the kid garnered a slew of offers on his table. But after some serious retrospection, he brought it down to 15 schools. The list contained Alabama, Auburn, Colorado, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, Tennessee, Texas Longhorns, Texas A&M, Miami, Michigan, and USC. But USC has been in the driving seat so far.

‘On3’s Chad Simmons noted, “Things shifted towards USC; LSU’s been lurking from the very beginning of an in-state program. He’s been there over a dozen times. It’s now USC versus LSU.” The Tigers had their eyes on him for a long time, and they have been quite active in their efforts. ”We see later in the process that a final decision is still to be made. He did not make it to LSU this weekend; we feel he was in Baton Rouge in the middle of the week last week, as well, though for one last meeting with Brian Kelly, Blake Baker, and Frank Wilson, many are involved,” Chad added.

But the Trojans have some extra advantages. They need a quick fixer in their defensive line, and Stewert can fix it very well. He believes he can run through anyone on the field. USC coach Eric Henderson also has a strong inclination to take the tenth-grade talent to the house. ”We think right now USC still has the edge over LSU a very close second; we think Ohio State is out, Oregon’s faded, but anything’s possible in these last what 48 72 hours. But right now USC edge over LSU based on my intel,” the ON3 analyst dropped the bottom line.

You might argue that a promising kid like Stewart should give a second thought before joining forces with the Trojans, as they ended the season with a below-average 6-6, but trust us when we say it doesn’t really bother the New Orleans kid.

What will matter the most in Jahkeem Stewart’s potential USC decision?

The flipping scenario is really becoming a toxic trend these days. Talents tend to choose based on their records and money; NIL offers everything, and they don’t hesitate to ditch several schools in a month if a better offer approaches. But Stewart’s coach Alexander, who has been a constant witness of his recruitment rush, explained to On3 that the Trojans’ record doesn’t mean much for Stewart.

”At USC they have an elite staff, great schemes on defense and offense, and an administration all in with adding elite coaches and athletes to the football program,” said Alexander, marking it enough, Stewart.

Alexander noted they will keep the coaches’ current dealings and records with the players on their top watch list. And quite understandably, NIL will also play a factor in his decision. But it will not outdo the intangible things USC has in store for the wonder kid. It remains to be seen how the New Orleans native exceeds expectations with the Trojans (if at all).