Matt Leinart didn’t sugarcoat where USC stands after the Trojans’ home loss to No. 20 Oregon.
The No. 18 Trojans are still trying to sort through what went wrong, and the former USC quarterback added his own blunt assessment to the conversation. With USC still chasing its first College Football Playoff appearance, the defeat landed badly for a program that was trying to make a statement in 2026.
Leinart made clear he wants USC to succeed, but he said the current picture is hard to ignore.
"Alright, a lot of chatter around USC football and the state of the program and Lincoln Riley and the narrative and all of those things after that loss to Oregon," said Leinart. "First, I just want to say, like, I love this program, I love this team, I love the staff.
There's a lot of people that I'm close with still there. I want them to be successful, more than anybody.
But I have to be objective, and it's my job to be opinionated. It's my job to be critical, and it's my job to praise teams when they do well."
He didn’t stop there. Leinart said the Trojans feel stalled.
"And I think when you look at this program, the best way I could describe it is just, it feels like it's stuck in mud. It feels like you can't get out of the mud.
Doesn't mean it's not a talented team, it doesn't mean it's not a good team, it doesn't mean you can't win a lot of games. But I think the expectation is reasonable if you look at USC and say, 'This should be a playoff team.'
It just should. The talent, the resources, everything, like it should be that.
I think that's fair to say," the former USC quarterback continued.
That expectation has only grown around a roster that includes the No. 1 recruiting class in 2026, plus key returns along both the offensive and defensive lines and quarterback Jayden Maiava. Even with true freshmen expected to play meaningful roles, USC has enough talent on paper to be in the postseason mix.
But the results under Lincoln Riley continue to keep the pressure on. Riley is heading into his fifth season in Southern California with a 39-19 record, and the loss to Oregon only sharpened the scrutiny.
Leinart pointed to other programs that have moved quickly in a different direction, including UCLA under Bob Chesney and Indiana under Curt Cignetti.
"And when you look other programs, you look at UCLA for instance. Bob Chesney's first year, that team is really good, and he has instantly turned it around.
And there's a belief there that that team is going to be really good. That's just the belief."
"And you look at Indiana when Curt Cignetti came in. No one gave them a shot, wins a national championship.
They're a really good program. Culture, all those things, they're not going anywhere.
So it can happen. Programs can turn around, and I just think when you look at USC, it's like, I think a lot of people and alumni have lost that hope, like where is this program gonna be?"
For Leinart, the message is simple: USC has to start winning the games that define credibility.
"You gotta win against the ranked opponents. You gotta beat teams like Oregon, you gotta beat Ohio State, you just have to if you want to be relevant, if you want to be credible.
And USC has not just been able to do that over the course of the last four, five years. And some of the same problems continue to arise week in and week out."
USC still has chances ahead to change the narrative, climb back into the top 15, and keep pushing toward the College Football Playoff conversation.
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