USC football puts Oregon in crosshairs as Lincoln Riley goes big-game hunting

This could be the start of the payoff for all of USC coach Lincoln Riley’s heartache and strain.All of that early promise with a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback that never was fulfilled.All of those seasons that ended short of the College Football Playoff.All of the constant pivoting this way and that to address every shortcoming.With a victory over No.20 Oregon on Saturday at the Coliseum, the No.

12 Trojans could finally be on their way under Riley and quarterback Jayden Maiava.Beating the Ducks would wildly swing fan sentiment about a coach who has not lived up to expectations since his arrival from Oklahoma before the 2022 season.Riley took the Sooners to the CFP three times, making USC fans believe he would do the same here.What’s transpired instead has been one Cotton Bowl appearance — which ended in a meltdown against Tulane — along with a mishmash of lesser bowl games.With a veteran quarterback in Maiava and a slew of freshmen who have already showed why they comprised the top-ranked recruiting class in the country, the Trojans could be on the verge of their long-awaited breakthrough.A USC win over Oregon makes games against Penn State, Ohio State and Indiana in the coming weeks all the more meaningful.

It also opens a wider pathway to the CFP, which would involve even bigger games.Only one thing seems assured when the Trojans (4-0 overall, 1-0 Big Ten) face the Ducks (2-1, 0-0) before the home team’s first sellout crowd of the season.“The atmosphere in the Coliseum here on Saturday is going to be phenomenal,” Riley said.“It’s going to be a heck of a football game.”Riley hasn’t beaten coach Dan Lanning’s Ducks in two tries, but both of those previous meetings came at Autzen Stadium.

Can Riley get a breakthrough amid far friendlier confines?Here are five things to watch in a game that will kick off at 4:30 p.m.on NBC:One thing math nerds and college football fans can agree on is that the transitive property doesn’t always hold...