Lincoln Riley: 'No surprise' the Big Ten picked USC vs. Michigan to kick off league play

USC will be introduced into its new conference in the most Big Ten way possible — inside The Big House against the Michigan Wolverines.

The Week 4 road trip, which comes after the Trojans’ first bye week, will be a fast start to both team’s schedules. The meeting will be the first conference game between the two storied programs, and could potentially sew the seeds of a new Big Ten rivalry moving forward.

Third-year USC headman Lincoln Riley is excited to get back on the field against a higher level of weekly competition within one of college football’s most premier conferences. To do so against the reigning national champions only feeds to the matchup’s allure.

“Just the college football fan in me — it’s pretty damn cool that USC and Michigan are opening up the new Big Ten,” Riley said. “To me, it’s no surprise that the Big Ten would pick those two schools and brands to kind of kick this thing off, so I think it’s awesome.

“The coach of me is like, that’s going to be great to go compete against a really good football team. I’ve always loved coaching on the road, so it’s a perfect way to be introduced.”

Riley will be leading a new-look USC team into Ann Arbor for that September matchup. Losing their Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback in Caleb Williams to the NFL. Riley — who has coached three Heisman winners since 2017 — will be tasked with making a star out of Miller Moss and elevating the talent surrounding him.

The first look we got to see of Riley’s new offense was in the spring game — and they did not disappoint the fans in attendance. The offensive unit, led by Moss, put up over 500 yards of production during the scrimmage.

The wide receivers combined for 37 receptions for 396 yards and two touchdowns on the day, seeing six wideouts record at least 35 receiving yards during the day. Meanwhile, Moss finished the spring game by completing 16-of-21 passes for 133 yards with one touchdown and a pair of interceptions.

They’ll have had an entire summer and fall to work out the kinks by the time the regular season rolls around. And before Riley and USC can worry about their first season in the Big Ten, a massive Week 1 matchup against LSU on Sept. 1 looms. The Trojans are 6.5-point underdogs just over six weeks out from opening kickoff.