As USC heads toward the 2026 season, Lincoln Riley is walking into another year with the spotlight turned all the way up. The question hanging over the program is simple enough: is this finally the season the Trojans get back into the College Football Playoff?
For Riley, the margin for error keeps shrinking. He’s already on the list of coaches viewed as being on the hot seat, and another year without a playoff run has only sharpened that conversation.
Yahoo’s Ross Dellenger is among those pointing to 2026 as a possible ultimatum year for Riley. If USC decides to move on, the buyout would land at roughly $60 million, with Riley’s contract running through the 2031 season.
That kind of money is one part of the equation. The other is what USC expected when it hired him.
Riley arrived in Los Angeles with a resume that carried real weight. In seven seasons at Oklahoma from 2017 to 2021, he went 55-10, won four straight Big 12 Conference titles, and guided the Sooners to three CFP appearances.
His reputation as a quarterback developer was already established, too, with Kyler Murray and Baker Mayfield both winning the Heisman Trophy and Jalen Hurts reaching Heisman finalist status. When Riley left Oklahoma in November 2021, he became USC’s 30th head coach after the Trojans had stumbled to a 4-8 season.
The first year in Los Angeles looked like the start of something bigger. Riley’s 11-3 finish in 2022 remains his best season at USC, and the Trojans came just short of the then four-team CFP. Caleb Williams followed Riley from Oklahoma, won the Heisman Trophy, and helped push USC close to the playoff picture.
But the momentum has not carried through. Over the next three seasons, USC has not won more than nine games in a year, and even with the expanded 12-team playoff, the Trojans still haven’t broken through. Since 2022, they also have not finished better than fourth in the Big Ten or Pac-12.
The numbers against ranked opponents have only added to the pressure. Riley is 35-18 overall at USC, which would be solid in plenty of places, but not at this job. He is 6-13 against top 25 teams and 0-7 against top 10 teams.
Now he goes into his fifth season with expectations still high and patience wearing thin. USC is projected to match last year’s 9-4 record in 2026, but the schedule is demanding. The Trojans will play five teams ranked in the preseason AP Top 25 in the Big Ten, with three of those games at home and two on the road.
There are reasons for optimism on the roster. USC owns the top-ranked 2026 recruiting class, and several freshmen are already making noise as potential immediate contributors. Receivers Trent Mosley, Ethan “Boobie” Feaster, and Kayden Dixon-Wyatt, linemen Keenyi Pepe, and tight end Mark Bowman are all pushing to play right away.
The staff also made a major addition on defense with Gary Patterson, the longtime TCU head coach who spent 21 years leading the Horned Frogs. Patterson, now 66, brings his 4-2-5 scheme with him, and USC is counting on that to help tighten things up on that side of the ball.
Jayden Maiava returns at quarterback after being named to the 2026 Walter Camp Player of the Year watchlist. In 2025, he threw for 3,711 yards, 24 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions.
With the opener against San José State set for Aug. 29, USC is once again chasing the same thing it has been after for years now: a playoff run and a return to the standard Trojan fans expect.
In Other News...
USC Game Day Just Made A Coliseum Change Fans Will Notice
USC is making a noticeable change to the game-day experience at the Coliseum for the 2026 football season, naming KTLA reporter Hayley Elwood as the new in-stadium host. She will take over for DJ Mal-Ski, who has long been one of the most recognizable voices around USC events and has helped shape the atmosphere at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and beyond.
Mal-Ski is expected to stay involved by continuing to manage the Coliseums music, so the shift is more of a handoff than a full reset in the stadium presentation. Along with the hosting change, USC also unveiled new concessions and themed promotions for home games, part of a broader effort to keep the Coliseum experience fresh for fans who notice the details as much as the scoreboard. [Read more 🡒]
USC Depth Chart Just Put Pressure On Two Young Trojans
USCs first depth chart for the 2026 season brought an early jolt to a couple of young players whose paths to the field now look more complicated than they did a few months ago. True freshman Trent Mosely is listed as the No. 2 receiver, with redshirt-sophomore Zacharyus Williams right behind him, a sign that the Trojans are giving youth a real chance to climb quickly at a position where depth always matters.
Williams arrived from Utah in 2025 but was slowed by injury last season, so this fall could be a defining one if he is going to carve out a role and avoid another reset. On the defensive side, RJ Sermons is still waiting for his first real game action after not playing as a freshman, and being third on the depth chart means the highly rated recruit may have to make his impact somewhere else, likely on special teams, to force his way into the rotation. [Read more 🡒]
USCs New Defensive Tackle Is Already Challenging A Troubled Position Group
USC has spent the offseason trying to harden a defense that needed a reset, and the arrival of coordinator Gary Patterson has been part of that push. Along with him came transfer defensive tackle Alex VanSumeren from Michigan State, a new piece in a front that the Trojans are counting on to look more stable and more disruptive when the season opens.
VanSumeren has not played a snap for USC yet, but he has already been described as a leader and a positive influence in the room, which matters for a position group still trying to define itself. The tone around the unit has centered on accountability, high standards and preparation, and the real test now is whether that mindset shows up once the games begin. [Read more 🡒]