Lincoln Riley praises Korey Foreman for improved play

Former five-star recruit Korey Foreman is slowly cementing his presence on defense in year two, and USC head coach Lincoln Riley is taking notice.

On the season, Foreman has compiled 12 tackles. Having his 6-foot-5, 245-pound frame on the edge is invaluable for USC’s defense, and it seems to finally be paying off, even though it isn’t necessarily translating to the stat sheet.

“He did a nice job on Saturday. He made some plays,” Riley said. “To see him get in there and really play aggressive and play it loose – it’s a great step. We continue to look for guys at all positions, all sides of the ball that are going to get in there and take an advantage of their opportunities. Korey has continued to work hard and continued to progress. I thought we saw some real positive steps last Saturday. It was fun to see him out there making plays and see his excitement and fire.”

Riley said the next step for Foreman – how will he respond? Can he string together multiple game-changing performances and become the defensive stalwart he was expected to be coming out of high school.

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Foreman was the No. 1 overall recruit in the 2021 class, per the On3 Consensus, proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four major recruiting media services, and helped USC secure a top-10 recruiting class in the same season.

The numbers haven’t been there since he joined campus, but with Saturday’s performance, he’s well on his way to becoming one of the most productive front seven defenders in the Pac-12 Conference.

No. 7 USC will take on in-town rival No. 16 UCLA in a game with major implications regarding the final conference standings. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. CT live on Fox inside the Rose Bowl.