IMHO Sunday: Lincoln's curtain of secrecy is about to rise

In my humble opinion, cardinal and gold thoughts on what I see, what I hear, and what I think from Los Angeles: The narrative: As part of the USC football media and especially with the 2022 USC football season almost upon us, the first question always asked of me is: “How good is Lincoln Riley's team and how are they looking?” In seasons past, I could probably answer that generic question without missing a beat. In seasons past, I could not only view the Lincoln Riley mandated maximum viewing limit of 20 minutes of stretching and limited individual drills, but in other coaching eras the meat and potatoes of practice - not to mention the two or three scrimmages during training camp. The narrative – Part 2: In other USC coaching eras, for an example, regarding “learning about the team,” I could see who was the secondary player who made an interception in practice, and I could see the quarterback who threw the PI, and was the quarterback throwing the interception a training camp pattern? Conversely, was the secondary player that made the interception showing a positive training camp pattern? If those patterns of performance on both sides of the ball transitioned into an actual game, it would allow me to inform readers that interceptions by a specific quarterback had been an issue during training camp, so it was no shock during an actual game. The narrative - Part 3: To take it a step further, if a running back fumbled in a game, I would know, too, if ball security had been an issue during training camp. And in the course of training camp scrimmages monitored by game officials, it could be a backstory if holding penalties and pass interference calls were also problematic, which also transitioned from practice to a game. And, of course, a sensitive question in recent seasons, were the Trojans learning to be physical and aggressive in practice and did that transition into the game? The bottom line: With Rice University being the Trojans' first opponent, is what happens in the Rice game an extension of what has been happening in practices, which, of course, the media isn't allowed to see.