Lincoln Riley details his familiarity with the Cotton Bowl, AT&T Stadium

Lincoln Riley is heading back to familiar territory when USC plays in the Cotton Bowl. The game will be played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington — a stadium Riley knows well.

While at Oklahoma, Riley and the Sooners made it to four Big 12 Championships, all of which were played at AT&T Stadium. Oklahoma also played in the 2020 Cotton Bowl at the stadium, and this year’s edition of the game will mark Riley’s first time back since.

He sounds ready to go back.

“It’s one of the best venues in sports,” Riley said. “I’m fortunate to be able to play in a couple of championship games there and then, obviously, got to play in the Cotton Bowl during the COVID season, which you combine that stadium, one of the greatest stadiums in the world, and then on top of it, one of the most storied bowl games that there’s ever been. It’s very special. It is. It’s not easy to get to a game like that.

“Excited to share with our guys the history of this game. Obviously, the opportunity to get down there and play in AT&T Stadium is very special and it means a lot to us. It will be cool to get back to that area and play, and our guys will certainly be looking forward to it.”

USC put together an impressive year in 2022 — Riley’s first with the program. The Trojans went 11-2, just missing out on a College Football Playoff berth after falling to Utah in the Pac-12 Championship. Now, the big question for Riley’s program is the health of Caleb Williams, who suffered an injury in that game. He addressed that during his Zoom call with reporters on Sunday.

Lincoln Riley provides injury update on Caleb Williams, status for Cotton Bowl

After it was reported that USC quarterback Caleb Williams suffered a hamstring injury in the Pac-12 Championship Game on Friday, it’s worth wondering whether he may be done for the season.

The Trojans lost 47-24 to Utah in the conference title game, ending their College Football Playoff chances and pitting them against Tulane in the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 2. With a little less than a month for Williams to heal up, Riley expressed “hope” that the quarterback will be ready to roll for that matchup.

“He’s got a significant hamstring injury,” Riley said, according to USC team reporter Keely Eure. “It’s probably good we’re not playing for the next 2-3 weeks. We’ll rehab him hard and hope to have him to have him available.”