The answer is probably no. USC has a brutal September schedule, and the bye week before the game at Notre Dame is the perfect time to make a mid-season head coaching change. Remember, AD Lynn Swan is not in good standing with the alum, and his job most likely is at stake if USC has another sub-par season. Swan will become desperate to try and save his job and a mid-season change is the most likely way to do so.
So let's take a look at the first 5 games that USC plays. Helton MUST go 3-2 to save his job. Anything under .500 means the end for him. USC leads off at home against Fresno State. This is a must win for USC. Fresno State had a very solid 2018, going 12-2, but they do lose 7 offensive starters including their QB on offense and 6 starters on defense. This is certainly no gimme for USC. Next comes a very tough Pac 12 home opener against Stanford, who loses RB Bryce Love but returns 7 starters on each side of the ball, including QB K.J. Costello. Week 3 sees USC travel to BYU for their first road test of the year. The Cougars lose QB Tannher Magnum but return 8 starters on offense. The defense loses their starting LB corps. Next comes defending Pac 12 South Champs Utah, at the Coliseum. This team returns 14 starters from last season. Finally, a trip to Seattle to play Washington, the defending Pac 12 Champs. Washington loses most of it's 2018 starting offense.
So that is the early schedule Helton is looking at. Obviously USC will be a big dog at UDub. That means that they must win 3 games out of their first four. Fresno State and BUY become must games, and Helton must defeat either Stanford or Utah at home. If Helton starts out with 3 conferences losses, he is finished. The perfect time for Swan to make a change is the off week before the game at South Bend. The new "interim" head coach gets an extra week of practice and plays game 1 against a team that will be a 14-19 point favorite at home to defeat USC. That is about as easy as it gets for a new head coach. Talk about no pressure. In the mean time, USC will have a lot of time to look for a new head coach. There have been 27 head coaching changes for 2019 so far. A lot of big names are unemployed now. A long shot to replace Helton and whoever is the "interim" head coach in 2020 is Memphis Head Coach Mike Norvell.