USC football games at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum feature countless traditions. One of those traditions is the pregame Trojan Walk. When the team arrives at the Coliseum a little under three hours before, they are greeted by cheering fans as they enter the stadium through the iconic Peristyle.

This season, however, there is a notable change to the Trojan Walk. In Lincoln Riley’s first three years as USC’s head coach, players have been allowed to chose their own outfits for when they get off of the bus and enter the Coliseum. For Saturday’s season opener, though, the players arrived all wearing matching black tracksuits.

Following the game, I asked Riley about the change. Here is what he had to say:

“There’s been a lot of changes in our program, particularly in the last couple of months,” Riley said. “We don’t really do anything unless it’s all together. We don’t wear hats, and the staff doesn’t even wear hats, and everybody’s kind of calling each other out for it. It’s pretty cool.

“It’s a united group. They want it. They want it to be that way, which I asked the guys, because in the past, we’ve done it a little bit more NFL style and let the guys wear some different things. I asked our guys and gave them a choice, and this is what they wanted, and seeing this team unfold the last few months, I wasn’t surprised that’s what they wanted.”

On the surface, this seems like a very small thing. However, the fact that USC’s players are choosing to do everything together—including the way that they dress—is a positive sign of team culture.

I just have one request on behalf of the players for next week: If it is sunny and close to 90 degrees out again, maybe don’t have the arrival outfit be all black again. Just looking at those black tracksuits made me sweaty.

This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Lincoln Riley, USC football make game day change for 2025