Nate Clifton injury update: Lincoln Riley gives latest return timeline

The USC Trojans are banged up on the defensive side of the ball this season. Despite that, head coach Lincoln Riley is hopeful that the Trojans can begin to get healthy ahead of the final month of the regular season.

Riley started with defensive lineman Nate Clifton, who left the game against Rutgers with an apparent injury. At this point, it’s not clear if he’ll be able to go for the Trojans but Riley also made it clear that he’ll have the opportunity.

“Not yet,” Lincoln Riley said. “He’s definitely got a shot to go this week. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to finish the game. I thought our guys stepped in and did a really good job in his absence. Obviously, would love to have him, but we’re going to try to progress him here throughout the week, and hopefully having the extra day with the short week will pay dividends there.”

Nate Clifton came to USC as a transfer in December of 2023. He previously played for Vanderbilt where he was a three-star recruit in the Class of 2019, according to the On3 Industry Ranking. This season, he has 14 tackles and one tackle for a loss on the season.

From there, Lincoln Riley added his thoughts on the secondary, which is full of injuries. Jaylin Smith, Jacobe Covington, Kamari Ramsey, Greedy Vance, and Marcelles Williams have all been dealing with issues and while not everyone is going to be back, nothing appears to be long-term, which is important with how much those injuries are going to test depth.

“Marcelles isn’t available right now. Nothing crazy, but not available. The rest of the guys, obviously didn’t have them last week. I don’t believe any of them are out long-term. I don’t know that there’s any of them that you would say today are full-go, no-doubt are going to play,” Riley said.

“But I do think they’re all progressing in a very positive way. Hopeful to get, obviously we’ll take any number we can. I don’t think, you know, I don’t know that we’ll get all of them back, but obviously when you have that many at one position, getting anybody would be very, very helpful.”

USC’s next game is going to be on the road in a tough environment against the Washington Huskies. At 4-4 on the season, the Trojans need to win at least half of their final four games to get to bowl eligibility. However, that won’t be easy with the upcoming schedule.