Indeed, **Conjecture** Let $\ p\ $ be a prime, $\ n>1\, $ -- a natural number, and let the largest prime divisor $\ q\ $ of $\ s(p^n) :=\sum_{k=0}^n\,p^k\ $ satisfy $ q<p.\ $ Then $\ p^n\ =\ 7^3.$ The unique(?) exception would be $$ s(7^3)\ =\ 400\ = 2^4\cdot5^2 $$