College football is back, but in Los Angeles, you can watch a ranked team for less than the price of a fast-food meal. Tickets for the No. 14 USC Trojans’ opener against San Jose State have dropped to just $9 on reseller sites. For the only ranked Big Ten team playing in Week 0, seeing tickets go for single digits shows how low local enthusiasm has gotten.

The cheap seats tell a story of fan fatigue. Head coach Lincoln Riley enters his fifth year with the program under heavy pressure. After early high hopes, a couple of middle-of-the-road seasons have left local supporters hesitant to buy in before seeing real on-field progress.

“A ticket to see Lincoln Riley and USC won’t exactly break the bank,” Yahoo Sports posted on X on August 28. Ranked No.14 by the AP and USA Today coaches’ poll, the Trojans are up against the San Jose State Spartans. 

Of the 138 Football Bowl Subdivision teams, the Trojans are one of the 111 teams that have yet to make a playoff appearance since the format’s conception in 2014. The Trojans were inching toward a playoff berth until Utah knocked them out in the Pac-12 Championship in December.

Many, including Yahoo’s Ross Dellenger, believes this season is Riley’s final ultimatum. 

“There are no more excuses,” he wrote on August 24. “He’s been given the resources, and has a new general manager and defensive coordinator (Gary Patterson!). Without a playoff trip this year, AD Jen Cohen may finally pull the trigger despite the whopping buyout figure.”

Riley today is far removed from his past self, who engineered an 11-win inaugural season and was a Heisman Trophy winner. Four years since then, things have changed drastically for the worse. A powerhouse like USC has seen a 35-18 record with him. They have been a top-25 team in only two seasons of their tenure so far. 

With such a track record, the management might just pull the plug on Riley. Even the buyout is a hefty $60 million, and his contract stands through 2031. 

Sports Illustrated projects them to repeat last year’s 9-3 (6-3 in the conference) record after facing five Top 25 Big Ten teams. The pressure to win big is insurmountable, and the odds are lined against him. Riley, however, is leaning into the pressure.

Lincoln Riley goes head-on in his fifth USC season

Days before USC’s game against SJSU, Riley spoke about his journey and mindset entering his fifth season at the school. In an interview for the Los Angeles Times, he shared what keeps him going. 

“There’s no other job like this, not in our sport,” Riley told Ryan Kartje on August 28. “There are some unique things that make this place really special, but also you have to understand how it works and how to harness it and how to use it, and I think that has probably been the biggest thing.”

“I know what direction we’re heading now. I know so much more about this place and how it works, and that’s been more helpful than just starting over at kind of your normal run-of-the-mill job in college football… This one is just so unique and different. That’s what attracted me to it. And that’s what’s going to help make it great again.”

With four dud years, Riley might not have many chances left to make greatness happen. The absence of fans despite a $9 ticket is loud enough: make it happen soon.