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USC Trojans 5-Star Jahkeem Stewart Actively Recruiting for 2026 Recruiting Class

The USC Trojans made a big splash on the first day of the Early Signing Period when Edna Karr (LA) five-star defensive lineman Jahkeem Stewart announced he would be signing with USC. Now, Stewart has shifted his focus to helping them recruit for 2026.

Kendell Hollowell

USC signee Edna Karr defensive lineman Jahkeem Stewart / Instagram / @flashoutjah
USC signee Edna Karr defensive lineman Jahkeem Stewart / Instagram / @flashoutjah / @flashoutjah
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The USC Trojans made a big splash on day one of the early national signing period when they landed Edna Karr (LA) five-star defensive lineman Jahkeem Stewart over LSU, Oregon and Ohio State. Stewart was originally the No. 1 recruit in the 2026 cycle but reclassified to the 2025 class in October. 

“Jahkeem is someone that we targeted very early on, the tough thing was so did everyone else,” said USC coach Lincoln Riley. "He’s a neat young man, we got to spend a lot of time with him, he was able to come out to LA several times throughout the process. Everybody sees the physical ability, the length, he has a very unique combination physically but I do think Jahkeem’s mentality, the way he attacks, his confidence, he has a really gritty, tough hardworking mentality and I think that is what really makes him such an outstanding prospect and what made him a dominant high school player.”

USC signee Edna Karr (LA) defensive lineman Jahkeem Stewart
USC signee Edna Karr (LA) defensive lineman Jahkeem Stewart / Instagram / @flashoutjah / @flashoutjah

On the same day Stewart signed with USC he announced on social media that he is already working on recruiting his future teammates for the Trojans 2026 class. 

“The 2026 Class that I’m putting together will go down in @uscfb History,” Stewart wrote on X. 

“If you’re not ready to put in work and grind don’t come out west. I know who the real ballers are. Those rankings don’t fool me. I know who’s who.”

USC currently has the the No. 4 ranked class for the 2026 recruiting cycle, per the On3 Industry Rankings with six commitments, headlined by Gainesville (GA) linebacker Xavier Griffin. The four-star recruit is the No. 2 linebacker and No. 24 overall prospect, per the On3 Industry Rankings.

Stewart officially signing with the Trojans is a great step to making a statement when it comes to recruiting elite talent in SEC country. And having Stewart actively recruit high school prospects can help USC together a class that can compete with the elite programs in college football. The Trojans have been losing blue-chip prospects from Southern California to schools in the south for years and now they have a chance to do the same.

The Trojans program is at a critical point for its future after a disappointing 8-5 season in 2023 and 6-6 season in 2024. USC has not achieved anywhere close to the level of success they were hoping for when they lured Riley away from Oklahoma in November 2021. Continuing to land elite talent from all over the country is a big step in the right direction.

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Kendell Hollowell
KENDELL HOLLOWELL

Kendell Hollowell, a Southern California native has been been covering collegiate athletics since 2020 via radio and digital journalism. His experience includes covering programs such as the USC Trojans, Vanderbilt Commodores and Alabama Crimson Tide. Kendell He also works in TV production for the NFL Network. Prior to working in sports journalism, Kendell was a collegiate athlete on the University of Wyoming and Adams State football team. He is committed to bringing in-depth insight and analysis for USC athletics.

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