USC Coach Lincoln Riley Urges Team to Ignore 'Noise' After Loss

USC coach Lincoln Riley is urging his team to disregard external criticism following a significant loss to Oregon. Riley stated on Monday during the "Trojans Live" show that the team needs to focus inward and believes they can still achieve success if they "go on a run."

"The reality is, we go on the type of run that I think this team can have and have the type of stretch that we can, then ain’t nobody going to be talking about the end of that game," Riley said. "I mean, that’s just the world outside, and I understand it, but our world inside’s a lot different than the world outside."

The comments come after USC's 41-27 home loss to Oregon, a game critical for the Trojans' College Football Playoff aspirations. The defeat was compounded by a controversial hit from linebacker Desman Stephens II on Oregon quarterback Dante Moore, which resulted in Stephens' ejection and a subsequent one-game suspension from USC. Moore, who left the game following the hit, was later found to have no injuries beyond a concussion.

Riley acknowledged the scrutiny that follows teams at prominent programs like USC, drawing parallels to his previous tenure at Oklahoma. "At a place like SC, a place like Oklahoma, where I was at before, like, the one constant is the noise," he explained. "Like, there’s always noise. It’s just, what is the noise, right? Like, after you win games, the noise is typically over-positive and overblown and not accurate. And after you lose, it’s honestly, it’s the same way just on the other side of it. Like, the truth’s always in the middle. You know, the truth is on the tape."

Former USC wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson publicly questioned Riley's record, comparing it unfavorably to that of former coach Clay Helton through 58 games, noting Riley's record against ranked opponents. Johnson posted on X that Riley was 5-15 against ranked teams, while Helton was 10-16.

Despite the absence of Stephens, who ranked third on the team in tackles, Riley expressed confidence in the team's depth. "The good thing for us is we’ll get all week to work some of the different combinations of the guys that we have, and which will be good for our staff and for our players," he said. "You know, it’s not like it’s a surprise. We know what’s gonna happen now, so we’ll work all the different guys. We’ll work some different combinations, then settle in on what we feel like is gonna give us the best chance on Saturday."

Riley also identified a roughing-the-passer penalty on defensive tackle Jide Abasiri on third-and-15 as a pivotal play that allowed Oregon to maintain possession. "The pivotal play was obviously the penalty, which was, you know, they missed a call, it was a tough call, tough time to happen there on third and 15 because we had it all, still had our opportunity certainly after that," Riley stated.

Ultimately, Riley emphasized the need for his team to convert opportunities and improve execution. "Ultimately, you know, this is a results-driven business, we understand that," he said. "Like, there’s no moral victories for us here, there never will be. So I’m proud of the way we fought, but we’ve just got to play a little bit better. We have a good football team and our ability to turn that over in terms of some of the plays that we didn’t make and opportunities that we missed and make our share of those will determine how far this team can go because we have a talented team, we have a really good football team but we’ve got to play better and we need to kind of start to hit our stride now."