Walking into this weekend, Lincoln Riley and the USC Trojans might be in a mindset to seek revenge. After all, last season, under the new head coach Sherrone Moore, Riley’s boys suffered a 27-24 defeat. The Trojans’ biggest drawback? It was their offense that struggled for long stretches. This season, ESPN’s Football Power Index gives the Trojans a 68.5 percent chance to knock off the visiting Wolverines. Is that the reason for Riley’s mindset before the game?

On the October 11th episode of the USC Athletics podcast, Riley was invited as a guest. He took up questions from different journalists on the call. That’s when an interesting question dropped in. “There’s so much history between USC and Michigan. And I’m just kind of wondering, like what kind of a stamp do you want to make on this chapter of the I guess we could call it a rivalry maybe,” asked one of the reporters. 

Riley had his answer ready. Without wasting any time to bring together his thoughts, the Trojans’ head coach started with, “Yeah, maybe there’ll be some new rivalries with these new conferences, opponents, and I think right now, it’s just kind of the focus on you know us coaching and playing our very, very best.” Michigan versus USC has a history going back to the 1940s.

The first game between the two came just after World War II, in the year 1947. Since then, they have met each other only 11 times. The Trojans have the edge with 6 wins and 5 losses. But Michigan won it last year. 2025 will be the third time since 2006 that USC and Michigan play each other. It is also the first time since 1957 that the Wolverines will visit the Coliseum.

Joel Klatt said it will be the “most fascinating” game of the weekend. Michigan football is 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the Big Ten, looking to add another road win to its resume. The Trojans sit at 2-1 in the conference and need a victory over the Wolverines to ignite their playoff hopes. It’s a clash of momentum versus desperation this weekend.

Riley also understood the importance of this game. “You also don’t want to, undervalue the fact that these games like this don’t come around just all the time. And so the games like this are special…Like that’s big-time stuff for what these two programs have accomplished throughout time. So, appreciation for it and excited to go compete,” Riley sounded confident and unfazed. With so many things going at the same time, the Trojans head coach ensures to keep his calm, even when others try to mess with him.

Lincoln Riley stays cool despite pre-game provocation

One can already feel the heat even before the sold-out Los Angeles Coliseum opens the gates this Saturday. But even before that, Moore chose to trigger Riley and the Trojans. “We’re not celebrating going to the Coliseum,” the Michigan head coach said with a wry smile. “There’s no pictures and selfies cuz we’re at the nice Coliseum. It’s sold out, but it’s sold out ‘cuz Michigan’s coming.”

And obviously, Riley was not okay with the sharp jab. However, the Trojans’ head coach kept the off-field drama at bay. Instead, taking a cooler stance, he said, “I don’t really care what he says. We’re looking forward to playing.” Now, that’s what you call keeping the bull’s eye on the target. If that’s not enough drama, Klatt just made it spicier.  “If USC just tries to lean on the pass game, that hasn’t worked for them in the past. They need to run it with Waymond Jordan. They need to be more physical with their defense, and the evidence suggests that’s not available to them because we haven’t seen it,” came Klatt’s bitter reality check for Riley’s squad. 

ESPN’s Max Olson released the updated rankings for defensive stop rate. And in that list, Riley’s defense ranks No. 61 (out of 136) in the country. Definitely not good. The Trojans’ inability to get off the field hurt them against Illinois, letting the Fighting Illini set up a last-second field goal. Their 62.3% stop rate highlights ongoing defensive issues. 

If that’s not enough woes on Lincoln Riley’s plate, here comes some more. OL Kilian O’Connor fell prey to a left knee injury and will be sidelined for the next couple of games. Not just this, Alex Graham and Elijah Paige have been injured, affecting USC’s depth. But Riley seemed hopeful about Paige’s return, “Things are trending in the right direction for Elijah to hopefully play this week. Yeah, I think, you know, I think he’s got a chance. I mean, it’s not a shoe-in. It’s just kind of been a nagging injury that he’s dealt with.” It looks like he will be a game-time decision. Only time will tell if Riley did enough to ensure his Trojans could win out at the Coliseum.