USC has put itself in the thick of the College Football Playoff conversation at 6-1, but Mark Ingram still isn’t ready to buy all the way in.
The former NFL running back and FOX Sports analyst said on “The Triple Option” that the Trojans have the pieces and the path, but not yet the proof. His biggest question is whether Lincoln Riley’s program can finally turn promise into something sturdier.
“If not now, then when for Lincoln Riley? If not now, then when for the Trojans?”
Ingram said. “You have one loss to Oregon, okay?
But you have the opportunity to control your own destiny, and you do. You do.
So right now they are in it.”
Even with USC sitting inside the playoff picture, Ingram wouldn’t label this team a true national threat.
“Do I believe? No, because consistently time and time again over the last five, six years, we've seen this from USC,” Ingram said.
“So prove me wrong and prove everyone else wrong. Get those stands filled back up in USC.
Get the support behind USC. This program should be one of the best in the country.
You have the chance. Do what you need to do and get back to the playoffs.”
That skepticism comes from a recent USC pattern that has repeated itself too often. Riley’s first season in Los Angeles flashed big-time potential, with Caleb Williams leading the Trojans to an 11-1 regular season in 2022 and a No. 4 spot in the AP Poll. But Utah knocked USC out of the Pac-12 Championship Game and ended the playoff dream.
The next year started in the same promising way. USC opened 2023 ranked No. 6, won its first six games and climbed as high as No. 5 in the AP poll. Then came the slide: five losses in the final six regular-season games, a 7-5 finish before the bowl, and a drop out of the rankings.
The 2024 season brought another stumble, with USC finishing 6-6 in the regular season. Four of those losses came by one score. USC improved to 9-3 in the regular season in 2025, but still missed the College Football Playoff.
That’s the backdrop for the doubt hanging over this team, even as the 2026 season has given USC a more convincing case. The Trojans entered the year with an FBS-leading 15 returning starters, including quarterback Jayden Maiava, and they also landed the No. 1 recruiting class in the 2026 cycle.
The freshmen have already delivered. Wide receiver Kayden Dixon-Wyatt has 27 catches for 400 yards and four touchdowns through seven games, while fellow freshman Trent Mosley has added 22 receptions for 366 yards and five touchdowns.
USC also made a major defensive move by bringing in College Football Hall of Fame coach Gary Patterson. After years in which defensive inconsistency helped fuel late-season disappointment, Patterson’s arrival was meant to steady that side of the ball.
The investment around the program backs up the expectations. USC opened the $225 million Bloom Football Performance Center in 2026, a facility built to support player development, recovery and recruiting.
And the schedule still gives the Trojans a real chance to change the conversation. After the bye week, USC travels to Wisconsin on Oct. 24, hosts Ohio State on Oct. 31, goes to Indiana on Nov. 14, hosts Maryland on Nov. 21 and closes the regular season against UCLA on Nov. 28.
Ohio State and Indiana stand out as the biggest chances to strengthen USC’s playoff résumé. A win over either would give the Trojans another marquee result to go with the Penn State road victory. Winning both would make the case even stronger.
Wisconsin, Maryland and UCLA also matter. USC can’t afford a careless loss if it wants to stay in control of its path, especially with those top-end matchups still ahead.
Ingram’s point was simple: USC has enough talent, enough backing and enough opportunities to be judged by results now. The Trojans are still in the race. The question is whether they can finally finish it.
In Other News...
USC Just Sent A Clear Message About Lincoln Rileys Future
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The timing matters because USCs season still has plenty of room to swing in either direction, and every game from here carries weight in the national picture. Even with buyout talk and long-term questions around Lincoln Riley never far from the conversation, the immediate priority inside the building is to let the results answer everything else. [Read more 🡒]
USCs Bye Week Could Still Bring A Rankings Boost
USCs week off arrives at a good time, even if the Trojans are not taking the field in Week 7. Fresh off a win over Penn State, they sit at No. 19 and can spend the bye watching the sort of scoreboard chaos that often shapes the rankings as much as anything that happens on the field. Around them, there are plenty of teams with tricky matchups, injury questions and a chance to stumble, which gives USC a real opening to move up without having to do anything itself.
The ripple effects could come from several directions, with Texas, Florida, UCLA, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Missouri all part of the broader picture. Quarterback injuries and uneven performances elsewhere could tighten the race above the Trojans, and that is what makes this week worth watching in Los Angeles. USC cannot control the polls, but it can benefit from the kind of results that tend to reshape the top 25 in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]
USCs Playoff Push Now Rests On One Jayden Maiava Question
Jayden Maiava looked every bit like the steady hand USC needed in one of the loudest settings in the country, completing 21 of 33 passes for 301 yards and three touchdowns at Penn State. Lincoln Riley called it one of the quarterbacks best games, a performance that showed poise, calm and leadership when the Trojans needed it most.
For USC, the bigger question is whether that version of Maiava can show up again and again as the season tightens. His play has swung too much at times this year, but the Trojans playoff push now depends on his ability to keep building on nights like this one, with more than wins and losses on the line as the draft conversation starts to sharpen, too. [Read more 🡒]