Lincoln Riley Reveals Focus of USC Trojans Before Season's Final Stretch

The USC Trojans are off their last bye week of the regular season and will get ready to travel to Lincoln to face the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Saturday, Nov. 1. USC coach Lincoln Riley spoke to reporters in lead up to the game.

What Lincoln Riley Said

USC Trojans Coach Lincoln Riley Nebraska Cornhuskers Big Ten Road Game Elijah Paige Injury Dana Holgorsen Analytics Weather — Sep 27, 2025; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley talks with players during the first half against the Illinois Fighting Illini at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images | Ron Johnson-Imagn Images

Confidence to Get Over the Hump in Road Games

“I just think what I see here on a daily basis. I think we continue to put ourself in position to win these, and I feel like we’re doing the things on a daily basis that ultimately lead to winning…I’ve been fortunate to been a part of pretty damn good road teams. You go back and look at the streak of road wins that we had at Oklahoma.”

“From that you kind of watch how teams and programs carry theirselves and prepare to play on the road…I just see us getting closer to that.”

Explaining the 'Burn The Boat' Mentality Post-Bye Week

“Yeah, it's something that we've talked about a little bit just kind of throughout the bye week. Honestly, don't know how far honestly we want to go into it. I mean, I think everybody kind of knows the story and some of the history behind it, but I think for us, it's I think just kind of simply, you know, we're past our last bye week now."

“We've put ourselves in great position and we gotta be a really forward-focused team right now. And this is what you work all year to do is to put yourself in a position like we're in right now, where, you got an opportunity to do some pretty cool things…We really want to put all out energy and attention to the task at hand right now…Things can get pretty fun from here if you really get on a run. This team is capable of that.”

On Elijah Paige Before Injury

“I think he was playing more confident, more physical…He was playing some really good football and I think it definitely hurt us not having him. Obviously losing a good player, but then it creates a shuffle and guys are playing different positions or you’re having to communicate with different people.”

“We’re eager to hopefully get him back here at some point during this stretch where he can get back to playing a bunch of snaps for us.”

Nebraska Offensive Coordinator Dana Holgorsen

“Great history with him. He’s an awesome guy, awesome friend, coach…No matter where we coach it seems like we just find a way to coach against each other. He’s always going to find a way to move the ball, and he’s smart…Dana’s smart and going to evolve to the competition he’s facing and the players he has and what they need to do to win.”

How He Knows When Team Is Emotionally Ready For A Game

“We're so routine-based, I think you kind of see the same routine – over and over, and so it's easy to pick up on, in my opinion. It's pretty easy to pick up on, all right, if this isn't new or that's not new, like how are they responding? What's their energy level like, their focus level like? How do they prepare?”

“So, yeah, I mean, and then I think, you know, there's kind of two parts of it. There's the energy to prepare and mentally get ready, and then there's just maintaining that energy and that level of effort through the game. So I think you – I think it's body language, it's preparation. And a lot of times to me, it's just really their, their effort. And also the, the vibe and the communication on the sideline.”

“This group has really been very engaged and ready to play…Excited for that to continue.”

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Team’s Biggest “Hype Guys”

“We got a lot of high energy guys. I would say Killian, Ja’Kobi, Jay Fair has always been tremendous at that. I would say Kam (Crawford) defensively. EG (Eric Gentry) certainly…We’ve got quite a few on this team. This team is not short on energy.”

How Weather Impacts Analytics Decisions

“Analytics definitely is a factor there. This is pretty generally speaking, but generally when you have a game where you're going to have inclement weather, there's typically less scoring. And so that certainly affects it affects numbers even kind of going into games because you always kind of have a plan of that you've worked on of, you know, expected score. And obviously that affects a lot of these different decision makings and kind of the math behind it.”

“I think inclement weather or not, there’s always a part of me that there’s things that numbers can’t tell you. Numbers sometimes don’t know that this matchup, or that guy’s got a bum ankle…There’s just things about this game that analytics in my opinion will never be able to fully comprehend.”

“I've taken the approach and we've taken the approach here of having an awareness, having an initial plan, but also knowing that there is a human element to this and there is an experience element that I think, you know, that we definitely factor in here. I'm never going to be somebody that goes by the book every single time. Some coaches do. And that's again, anybody can do it the way that they want. I still think there is a feel and a situational awareness that the computer is not going to have at times that that that we'd like to implement as well.”