Reign of Troy
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LA Rams NFL schedule has USC football written all over it

By Dustin Jacobs

Mar 4, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; General view of Los Angeles Rams helmet and NFL Wilson Duke football and the Olympic torch at the peristyle end of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The Coliseum will serve as the temporary home of the Rams after NFL owners voted 30-2 to allow Rams owner Stan Kroenke (not pictured) to relocate the franchise for the 2016 season. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 4, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; General view of Los Angeles Rams helmet and NFL Wilson Duke football and the Olympic torch at the peristyle end of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The Coliseum will serve as the temporary home of the Rams after NFL owners voted 30-2 to allow Rams owner Stan Kroenke (not pictured) to relocate the franchise for the 2016 season. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /
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NFL schedule makers had USC football on the mind when setting meaningful match ups on the Los Angeles Rams’ 2016 home slate.

There’s been plenty of buzz surrounding LA’s latest edition to the sports community. In January, the St. Louis Rams became the Los Angeles Rams again, which means USC football’s Coliseum will house an NFL team for the next three seasons leading into a new NFL facility being built in Inglewood. Not only will it be the home of the LA Rams, but also the NFL Network as well as the NFL combine.

Adding to the buzz, the Rams recently signed on to be the subject of the very popular HBO Hard Knocks docu-series “Hard Knocks.” They also gave up several draft picks from this year and next year to acquire the No. 1 overall pick this year, and rumor has it they are looking to draft former Cal Bear quarterback Jared Goff.

The Rams open the season on the road against the San Francisco 49ers in front of a worldwide audience as part of Monday Night Football on ESPN. Thus reigniting the rivalry between northern and southern California within the NFL.

The following week, Pete Carroll returns to the Coliseum for the first time since 2009 to coach his Seattle Seahawks against the Rams in their official return to Los Angeles. It will also be the first time former USC cornerback and LA Rams head coach Jeff Fisher will return to the Coliseum since his playing days. Former USC safety T.J. McDonald is likely to take the field at his alma mater’s stadium since he departed for the NFL in 2013 as well.

The Rams end their season on January 1 at home against the Arizona Cardinals, meaning Carson Palmer and Matt Barkley will be back at the Coliseum on the eve of the Rose Bowl game. Coincidence? I think not.

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With college football’s toughest schedule, banking on USC playing in the Rose Bowl is a little farfetched. However, that won’t keep USC fans from hoping for a back-to-back USC football celebration in the Coliseum and Rose Bowl on consecutive days. It would be a great way to kick off the New Year.

USC has requested that the NFL schedule the Rams around its own football schedule and there is only one weekend in which USC and the Rams play in the Coliseum on consecutive days. USC hosts the Oregon Ducks on November 5 while the Rams host the defending NFC Champion Carolina Panthers on November 6. That’s a huge weekend for football in LA, as all eyes could potentially be on Exposition Park.

Four months out and the excitement is growing heading into USC’s kickoff against Bama in Dallas.

It’s time to hurry up and wait. That’s so LA.

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