It was always going to be difficult for any program outside of USC to land a commitment from Rivals250 cornerback RJ Sermons, but it doesn't lessen the impact of the addition for the Trojans.

Friday, the Rancho Cucamonga High School star announced his pledge to the Trojans as Lincoln Riley's program beat out a final group that also included Oregon, Georgia, Alabama and Washington.

Being a USC legacy — his dad is former Trojans running back Rodney Sermons — certainly set up the program to remain in favorable position as his recruitment played out. However, other top schools from around the country put themselves under strong consideration as well.

Oregon had emerged as the biggest potential threat to USC, but Sermons' connection to the local school certainly remained strong through all of that.

“What I like about (USC) is the environment,” Sermons previously told Rivals. “I’m not going to say nothing is like LA but pretty much. Being from California, the marketing and everything around it is just amazing."

Riley and the Trojans signed a top-15 class in the early signing period this month, and the 2026 group is already on track to be one of the best in recent memory. Sermons' addition pushed USC's 2026 class up to No. 4 in the Rivals team recruiting rankings for 2026 with seven prospects now making up the group.

Sermons is the second Rivals250 cornerback to have already given USC his commitment in the class alongside top-50 prospect and Loyola High star Brandon Lockhart.

The latest pledge also will go down as another feather in the cap of defensive backs coach Doug Belk who has four early commitments from recruits in the secondary for the Trojans already in the class.

Sermons should be a key piece to the USC secondary in the future with his speed being one of his best attributes. He runs track as well and has personal bests of 10.48 in the 100m and 21.34 in the 200m.

His addition also adds to the haul of local prospects for the Trojans in the 2026 class with now five of the seven early commits in the group all coming from Southern California.