One of the biggest games of the weekend in college football will take place in Ann Arbor as #11 USC will travel to take on #18 Michigan. This will be the first ever Big Ten conference game for the USC football team as they came over from the Pac-12 after last season. These are two iconic college football programs going head-to-head to start conference play, and it should be a terrific matchup.

USC football head coach Lincoln Riley appeared on The Herd with Colin Cowherd this week to talk about the game, and he was asked if he and his team had talked about what a big matchup this is in terms of entering the Big Ten and playing such a historic program in their first game.

“We have, I think it would be a mistake to totally just discount that, to say it's another game, right?,” Lincoln Riley said. “It's a historic game. I think it's not surprising that the Big Ten, from a scheduling standpoint, would put, you know, these two iconic teams and brands against each other on the field here early on in the season, so yeah I think understanding the significance about it, embracing that and understanding what a great opportunity it is for us to go get out to a great start.”

This game is a big one for a number of reasons. It's a huge matchup in the big picture of the season, and it's also a big game just this week. Two top-25 teams are going at it to start conference play, and there is a lot of importance just in that.

The USC football team taking on Michigan in their first ever Big Ten conference play is the big picture side of things. These teams have had some legendary matchups in the past, many in the Rose Bowl game, and they are playing as conference foes. It's quite a change, and this truly is a historical matchup.

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Both of these teams badly want a win in this one, but the Wolverines really need the win. They already have a home loss to Texas this year, and they don't want to fall to 0-1 in conference play and 2-2 overall. This is an important game in every aspect.

The Wolverines and Trojans will kick off from Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor at 3:30 ET on Saturday. The game will be airing on CBS, and USC is currently favored by 5.5 points.