USC football countdown to kickoff continues—Stevie Tu'ikolovatu in focus
The countdown to USC's 2025 football season is officially on! The Trojans kick off their new campaign 96 days from today. You need something to help you while away the days and hours in the spring and summer. This is one way to do so. In this new series, countdown to kickoff, we will be counting down the days by highlighting a notable Trojan who wore each number. Today, we will look back at Stevie Tu'ikolovatu.
Position: Defensive lineman
Years played at USC: 2016
Career highlights: Tu'ikolovatu's journey to USC was a wild one. He arrived at Utah as a true freshman in 2009, before spending three years away from school on a Mormon mission. Tu'ikolovatu returned to the Utes in 2013, only to miss the season with a foot injury.
Tu'ikolovatu was able to work his way into the rotation at Utah over the next two years, before transferring to USC for his senior season in 2016. That year, he emerged as a key player on a much improved Trojans defense, finishing the year with 53 tackles. In his final college football game, he was named Defensive MVP of the Rose Bowl as USC defeated Penn State 52-49 in an instant classic.
Just how long was Tu'ikolovatu's college career? One of his college teammates was former Utah linebacker Mike Wright—who graduated from high school in 2004, and is three months older than legendary USC wide receiver Dwayne Jarrett. Also his college teammate was former USC running back Vavae Malepeai, who played his final game for the Trojans in December of 2021, six days after Lincoln Riley was announced as USC's head coach.
After USC: Tu'ikolovatu was selected in the seventh round of the 2017 NFL draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. However, he never appeared in an NFL regular season game, as he spent his first two seasons with the team on injured reserve before being released during roster cuts in 2019.
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