Things keep piling up for Lincoln Riley after the Oregon game, and this latest one costs him a weapon he can’t afford to lose. Wide receiver Corey Simms, one of the few bright spots in USC’s receiving corps this year, is done for the season with a knee injury. With the Trojans coming off an upset (41-27) home loss to Oregon that reignited every hot-seat conversation about Riley, USC heads into Saturday’s matchup against Washington without one of their most reliable targets.

Simms was injured during the Week 4 win over Rutgers, where he had the best game of his career, with four catches for 72 yards and his first touchdown of the season. He missed the Oregon game the following week and was later ruled out for the season with a knee injury. For a team that already looked shaky offensively against Oregon’s defense, losing a starting receiver heading into a stretch against Washington, Penn State, Ohio State and Indiana is not the kind of break Riley needed now.

“USC wide receiver Corey Simms is expected to miss the rest of the season due to a knee injury, sources tell me and Chris Hummer,” CBS Sports Matt Zenitz reported via an X post. “Had been a starter for the Trojans and posted 12 catches in USC’s first four games, including four for 72 yards and a TD in Week 4 vs. Rutgers.”

Through four games, Simms caught 12 passes for 178 yards and a touchdown, averaging a healthy 14.8 yards per catch. He had the ball skills to be a home-run threat during the Rutgers game, as he turned a short pass into a 52-yard touchdown. Simms was quarterback Jayden Maiava’s fourth option in the passing game by target share, but stood out with his performance every time he was targeted.

Simms appeared in all 13 games as a freshman in 2025, mostly contributing on special teams while recording just one catch for six yards last season. He started the first three games of his career in 2026 and looked like the complementary piece Maiava needed alongside the Trojans’ deep threats. Riley has talked all offseason about building out the receiver room beyond just the big names, and Simms was quietly doing his best to be a part of that before his knee gave out.

USC has moved Simms’ status from questionable to doubtful before he was effectively ruled out, with Riley yet to address the specifics of the injury. USC is also dealing with a list of other injuries across the roster, including center Kilian O’Connor and defensive tackle Jahkeem Stewart working back from his recovery.

With Simms sidelined, the Trojans will lean on a receiver room that is already stretched thin. Freshman Trent Mosley, who had been USC’s leading target before his knee issue, was marked as questionable for Washington. Beyond him, Kayden Dixon-Wyatt has taken on a bigger role and leads the team in recent production, while Tanook Hines, Zacharyus Williams and transfer Terrell Anderson round out the group trying to fill the gap.

USC’s growing injury concerns for Lincoln Riley

USC is already under the microscope after the Oregon loss, and now every injury report carries extra weight. Simms’s absence adds one more problem for an offense that needs to find its rhythm fast.

Though analysts and fans criticized the Trojans-Ducks matchup, Riley found a silver lining. His optimism drew further scrutiny of his job security.

“We didn’t get run out of the stadium. There’s a lot of good on that tape,” Lincoln Riley said, via USA Today’s Matt Hayes. “You don’t have a chance to win a game like that if you don’t do some things pretty well.”

Whether Riley’s optimism holds up against Washington, which has beaten USC three straight years, remains to be seen in Week 6. As USC’s margin for error keeps shrinking, Riley is also not on the safe side as the schedule gets tougher with Penn State, Ohio State, and Indiana in the later stretch of the season.