WATCH: USC shares holiday video taking shot at Oklahoma fans

The USC athletics department shared a video celebrating the holidays with a joke directed at Oklahoma fans who are upset with coach Lincoln Riley leaving. The video shows Riley smiling with Jingle Bell Rock played over it, with the caption saying they’re wishing for Oklahoma fans to leave USC alone for the holidays.

@usc.athletics

merry christmas to all (except those raising hell in our comments) #usc #football #jinglebells

♬ original sound – keely

USC shares video joking at Oklahoma

When Riley announced that he would be leaving Oklahoma and taking over the coaching vacancy at USC, there was no shortage of fans who were upset at the surprise change. In the weeks following the coaching change, Oklahoma fans have been ready and willing to take shots at Riley as he settles in at USC.

Enough fans have made their presence felt that the USC athletics department called it an “unrealistic” wish for them to leave the Trojans alone.

The video is sure to push the buttons of many Sooners’ fans, as the holiday music gives it just a little bit more of a sting. Hearing the upbeat music of Jingle Bell Rock over an image of Riley giving the peace sign is a new way to dig in at their critics at least.

Lincoln Riley on recruiting rivalry between schools

Riley took over the USC job last month and got right to work on the recruiting trail. Since he knows the area, he has an idea of how to get those recruits to stay home. In fact, that was part of the allure to the job.

“I recruited this state for a long time,” Riley told reporters on National Signing Day. “We’ve been able to have a little bit of success recruiting it at some of the previous stops. But I always remember a sense in … this part of the country that when SC was good, it was going to be tough to beat. When SC wasn’t good, you were maybe going to have a chance to sign kids that maybe deep down wanted to go to SC and maybe the program just wasn’t where it needed to be or maybe where they felt like it was good enough to go.

“I always had that sense through all the years, and certainly that was a factor in ultimately taking this job, feeling like you can build one of the elite rosters in the country here. I would say now having been here for a few weeks, it’s still very early, you feel that sense. I feel like players in this part of the country … I still feel that. That deep down, the majority of players around here, they want to play at USC.”

On3’s Nick Schultz contributed to this article.