LOS ANGELES — For years – for decades, even – USC’s athletic department has often found itself caught between the rock of university tradition and the hard place of collegiate football’s evolution, grappling with varying degrees of innovation in an ever-increasing need for revenue. That’s extended, throughout the Trojans’ history, to the program’s uniforms, where USC has largely refused to don any sort of alternate jersey. On Thursday, though, Trojans fans were set abuzz with the athletic department’s announcement of specialty throwback uniforms, a rebirth of 1972 alternates first introduced under legendary coach John McKay’s regime. It’s believed the first alternate or throwback jersey worn by the program in longtime memory – and a sign of USC’s continued attempt to blend tradition with new cosmetic ideas to generate buzz and revenue. The university has known, a source with knowledge of the situation told the Southern California News Group that equipment and apparel-supplier Nike has long been interested in working with USC on an alternate jersey. After continued conversation, Nike’s been working on this particular McKay-era rebirth design for “one or two years,” the source said, most notably featuring a gleaming golden stripe across the shoulder pads. And after the jerseys finally shipped, the university settled on Saturday’s matchup with Nebraska – USC’s homecoming game on the schedule – as the date for a debut. USC head coach Lincoln Riley and his staff, the source said, were “all in” on the idea. “I think they look at it from a, ‘It’s gonna catch the eye of recruits,’” the source said. A couple weeks ago, too, the source said, USC’s facilities team got the idea to marry the throwback-jersey debut with a full-fledged field makeover at the Coliseum. On Saturday, fans entered to a completely new flavor: End zones painted the same shade of gold as the stripe on USC’s shoulders, featuring red “USC” lettering flanked by massive red-and-gold diamonds. It amounted to an all-out throwback effort Saturday at the Coliseum, with a pregame public-address tribute to late USC head coach John Robinson, a program icon who died Monday at 89 and was honored with specialty helmet stickers. For now, the source said, the uniforms are simply a “one-off,” with no concrete plans to introduce them again regularly in the future. But USC’s athletic department would be open to future opportunities to re-integrate the design, the source added. “If there’s another appropriate time to wear it … and there’s a right game to do it, I’m sure we’d be open to that conversation,” the source said. Ramsey, Covington return Perhaps this year wasn’t “unprecedented,” Riley said after USC’s victory over Rutgers in late October, in terms of sheer bad injury luck. “I’ve had better years,” he added, though, with a chuckle. Related Articles College Sports | USC’s Lincoln Riley and Nebraska’s Dana Holgorsen meet again with a few twists College Sports | USC football vs. Nebraska: Who has the edge? College Sports | USC QB Jayden Maiava is an ‘inspiration for the people of Hawaii’ College Sports | The Audible: On USC’s ‘probation,’ ageless LeBron, and Paul George vs. Clippers fans College Sports | Lincoln Riley is determined to add pass-rush talent at USC, but 2025 class is light on bodies Indeed, USC’s secondary has in particular been decimated for weeks, one of the deepest position groups on the roster turning to veteran backups in the wake of a rash of injuries. Starting cornerback Jacobe Covington, who’d been solid in the early part of the season, had been out since USC’s Week Six matchup with Minnesota. Safety Kamari Ramsey, arguably USC’s most important defensive piece, had been missing since Week 8 at Maryland. On Saturday, though, USC received a massive defensive boost with a largely clean bill of health, Ramsey and Covington returning to nominal spots in the lineup. The only negative development: Sophomore edge Braylan Shelby was scratched after being listed as questionable on USC’s pregame availability report, with freshmen Sam Greene and Kameryn Fountain starting on the Trojans’ defensive line.