a number of traditions including "The Ultimate Trojan Experience", Save Tommy Night, the CONQUEST! Bonfire, and all-night vigils by the USC Helenes and Trojan Knights to protect the campus from UCLA Bruins.
In addition, USC has rivalries with other former Pac-12 schools, particularly the Stanford Cardinal as they were the only two private universities in the Pac-12 Conference and are situated at opposing regions of California, as well as being the two oldest private research universities in California, 1880 and 1891, respectively. Recently, a rivalry has begun to exist between USC and the University of Oregon because of the two universities' dominant football programs with each school often serving as the toughest match-up on the opponent's schedule.
=== Mascots ===
Traveler, a white Andalusian horse, is the university's official mascot. Traveler I first appeared at a football game in 1961 ridden by Richard Saukko. The current horse is known as Traveler IX. Tommy Trojan, officially known as the Trojan Shrine, …
