Lincoln Riley says USC's turnaround is 'getting lost'

The USC Trojans went 4-8 during the 2021 season and were among one of the worst teams in college football. This offseason, head coach Lincoln Riley brought in an infusion of talent from the transfer portal and the Trojans are among the top 10 teams in college football. While they suffered a 43-42 loss to the Utah Utes, which was predictable, the Trojans have still only lost one game this year and currently sit at 8-1 overall. Ahead of Friday night’s matchup against the Colorado Buffaloes, Riley said plenty of fans surrounding the USC program need to take a step back and have some perspective on what his team has accomplished this year.

“And we’ve put ourselves in a great position. And I’ve gotta be honest. I think that’s getting lost around here a little bit. Like, don’t forget where this thing was last year. And I think a lot of people have. We’re 8-1. With everything in front of us. Let’s just make sure we have some perspective around here. And again, regardless if this program won the national championship the year before. Or if this program lost a bunch of games the year before,” Riley said.

“We’re in a phenomenal position. And every person that supports USC football, whether they do or not, they ought to recognize that. And I just wanna make sure that’s not getting lost around here. We’re damn sure not letting it get lost in our locker room. And we’re in a tremendous, tremendous spot. And really excited about it. And obviously, our expectations are to play extremely well in all three sides and I believe we will,” Riley said.

While having perspective is always a nice thing to have in college sports, the second Riley signed the over $100 million dollar contract from the Trojans, he basically signed up for a championship or bust deal every year he’s there. No fan base is going to shell out over $100 million and settle for anything less than a national championship. There might be a few out there, but it’s certainly not at USC.

The point remains he knows what he signed up for and he knows national championships are the expectation. Nobody wants to hear any sort of excuses for falling short of that lofty goal. With big money, comes big expectations. And it’s as simple as that. In the future, the Trojans have some electrifying offensive prospects on the way in Makai Lemon and Zachariah Branch, but the main concern moving forward will be tightening up their defense a bit in order to compete at a national championship level.

The USC Trojans will face the Colorado Buffaloes on Friday, Nov. 11. Kick off will be slated for 9:30 PM EST. The game will be nationally televised on FS1.