USC football coach Lincoln Riley would certainly look at adding NFL players

As if they didn’t have enough to worry about on the eve of their season opener, USC football coach Lincoln Riley and his college counterparts could soon be confronted by an awkward question:Do they want their old guys back?A court ruling has cleared the way for a group of former college players who signed with NFL teams this summer to gain additional collegiate eligibility.Even though they have been practicing with professional teams.Even though they had seemingly moved on with their lives.None of that might matter given those players have reportedly expressed interest in being released from their NFL contracts and joining a college roster.So, where does Riley stand on the possibility of bringing back a player who was thought to have played his final game as a Trojan?“Ultimately, at the end of the day, you’ve got to feel like bringing in somebody is in the best interest of the team, right?” Riley said Thursday.

“Addition doesn’t always mean necessarily making you better, right? And we feel very strongly about the group that we’ve put together, we feel very strongly about the kind of culture and attitude and vibe of this team right now, and so first and foremost, we’re going to protect that, and if at some point someone comes up that we feel like can add to the roster and add to the intangible part of this, then we would certainly look at it.”While they were not among the group of players granted a temporary restraining order as part of the lawsuit against the NCAA, there are a couple of former USC players whose returns could make sense — at least in theory — should they decide to go down a similar path.Detroit Lions rookie edge rusher Anthony Lucas and Pittsburgh Steelers rookie tight end Lake McRee both signed with their respective teams as undrafted free agents, meaning they face long odds to make the roster, much less contribute significantly in their first NFL seasons.But there’s no certainty they even want to return, and the Trojans are...