NFL Legend Clay Matthews Reveals Underachieving USC Trojans Need To Make College Football Playoffs

Lowe's is sponsoring this year's green room and with the draft being held in Green Bay, the company decided to partner with Matthews, a former walk-on at USC who understands all about hard work and grinding.

"Quite honestly, I shop at Lowe's, so I was like heck yeah this is a perfect opportunity, perfect sponsorship," Matthews said with a chuckle.

Matthews opened up to USC Trojans on SI about his time at USC, including his senior season where he posted 4.5 sacks and was invited to play in the 2009 Senior Bowl.

"I just remember my senior year being such a great experience for me...we just had so much success. I think we were rated as the best defense that year. We really took it to Penn State in the Rose Bowl. We had to work so hard for four years to get to that point. I think it was just a culmination of things and that obviously led to the draft," Matthews said. "That final year was truly special for a lot of us."

Matthews said he was impressed from the work USC general manager Chad Bowden has put in during the offseason, particularly the work Bowden's put in on the recruiting end.

"[Bowden is] making USC a destination for so many blue chip, five-star recruits athletes out of high school and the transfer portal. I'm hopeful that they can continue to ascend and get better each and every year," Mathews said.

In Bowden's first offseason with the Trojans, USC currently the No. 1 recruiting class in the country for the 2026 recruiting cycle. The Trojans have 23 commits in their top ranked class, including two five-star recruits in linebacker Xavier Griffin and cornerback RJ Sermons.

However, Matthews admitted that the Trojans' recent shortcomings have been falling short of the standard that was set many years prior.

"For a team like USC who has that talent and the talent pool to choose from and is just USC in of itself, they need to be in the playoff every year...for anything else, it's underachieving. I'm hopeful, I'm always hopeful for the Trojans," Matthews said.

The Trojans have began to build a defensive unit similar to the one during the days when Matthews donned the Cardinal and Gold with a strong defensive front anchored by linebacker Eric Gentry and defensive linemen Keeshawn Silver and Jahkeem Stewart, but only time will tell if they can live up to the legacy set by Matthews and former Trojans legends.

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