What Lincoln Riley Wants from USC Trojans Crowd Against Northwestern

The No. 20 USC Trojans eased some of their road woes with a 21-17 win over the Nebraska Cornhuskers this past weekend. It was a big win for USC coach Lincoln Riley, who made his weekly appearance on Trojans Live Monday night.

He dove into what challenges the Northwestern Wildcats could give the Trojans in their Friday night matchup and also had a message to USC fans about the importance of home field advantage.

What Lincoln Riley Said

USC Trojans Lincoln Riley Northwestern Wildcats Nebraska Cornhuskers Road Win Big Ten College Football Playoff Jayden Maiava — Nov 1, 2025; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley arrives at the stadium before the game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger-Imagn Images | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Message to USC Fans Coming to Coliseum

“It's huge. I mean, it is. Anybody that's in college football knows it. I mean, that atmosphere the other night, I mean, it may be hard to put a point value on it. Seven, ten points? And guess what? So was ours here at Michigan. So was ours.”

“When you have a great atmosphere, it is something else that the other team has to deal with. It's just – it is just part of it. Now it'll be important the rest of the way through starting this Friday for our group to do that and our fans and to be passionate. Come enjoy it, be excited about what this football team's doing, what this program's doing, and you make a big difference.”

What Riley Sees in Northwestern

“They're a good football team. They really are. They've had some big wins this year…They do a great job offensively of controlling the ball, trying to control the clock, and give you enough unique change-ups that makes it a little tough to zero in on them.”

“Defensively, they tackle the ball extremely well. They've got a system you can tell that's been in place here for a few years that they run very, very well. They're aggressive. They've done a good job holding people down in a run game. It's just a tough, gritty, well-coached football team. And you just see that week in and week out with these guys.”

Growth of the USC Program In Nebraska Win

“To make some of the plays there at the end to get it done, it was important for our program is important for this team this year because this team's in a really cool position right now. But it's big picture wise. It was important as well to go get a big road win.”

“To be able to overcome some things and show the toughness and resilience that you have to have because to win the amount of games that we want and expect to win here, you have to win different ways. They're not all going to look the same. Each game is its own chapter and you've got to be resilient, and you've got to be tough, and you've got to find a way to do it.”

MORE: What USC Coach Lincoln Riley Said About Nebraska's Hostile Environment

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MORE: Biggest Winners And Losers in USC Trojans' Signature Road Win Against Nebraska

Most Significant Moment in Nebraska Game

“I think the beginning of the second half. That was, you know, we got stops. We had two drives offensively that ended in a disappointing fashion. We had the turnover and then, you know, got there to midfield, didn't convert. We were able to then simultaneously go right back on the field. We forced I think a punt, the turnover, and then the miss field goal. I think was back to back to back if I'm sequencing, right."

"So that to me was huge because it was like, all right, we start playing well defensively, you know, we're giving the offense a chance to go get that score to put us right back, you know, tied or be right there."

“It didn't happen. And then we just kept making the stops. I felt like once we got that first one in, I kept telling the guys on the sideline, the offensive, defense, everybody, ‘I'm telling you, like, we're fixing to score, and then the floodgates are going to open.’ Like, you could just tell, like, if we could just get one. And then once we did, you know, we played pretty good team ball after that.”

Jayden Maiava’s Performance vs. Nebraska

“He made a lot of winning decisions. You know, he made a lot of plays. He was obviously very aggressive with his legs, which it just became that type of game. Yeah, we weren't sharp in the throw game, really, at all. We dropped some passes. We missed some passes that we typically make.”

“We had a couple of protection issues, and a couple of those came on once where we had big-time opportunities. And so we just weren't sharp enough against a good pass defense. And so that wasn't there. But the ability, obviously, for us to run the football and for him to impact the game the way he did running the ball, I thought he really settled in after the interception, honestly, and played pretty darn good ball after that.”

On Offensive Line

“Yeah, they did a really good job. We obviously ran the ball well, and they were the key catalyst behind that. I thought those guys in our tight ends really were blocked just awesome in the run game.”

"We lost Alani, right there at the beginning of the second series and so had to throw Caleb Miller in there and Caleb did a great job. He played a heck of a game. I thought he was really effective. It was good to get Elijah back going. He did some really good things in the game. There was also still a little bit of rust from missing all that time, but he was definitely effective and I think he'll just get better and better as we go.”

“Really proud of the group again. The lineup changed right in the middle of it and right in the beginning of it and we were able to withstand that…We got some things to clean up, but once again, we played a pretty effective game and even more impressive because, again, just the lineup changes have been the constant this year.”

Confidence in King Miller

“He just kind of keeps answering the bell. I was proud that I thought his physicality as a runner really showed more than it had in the other games. I mean, he obviously popped some big ones in the Michigan game and had done a few others, obviously, before that.”

“This was a game where there was going to be a lot of physical runs, and you saw him finish a lot of runs going forward, getting behind his pads, getting yards after the contact. I think he's just getting more and more confident as a runner.”

What Goes Into Dialing Up A Trick Play

“You know, for me it can happen a lot of different ways. Sometimes it's something else that I see in another game that's not related to us or the opponent in any way. Sometimes it's something you see from the opponent.”

“I think our guys enjoy it. You know, I think it makes people maybe a little more hesitant when they play us, knowing that we will do some of those things. And you just got to have confidence in it. We've got a really creative offensive staff."

“Ideas come from a lot of different places. It's probably like a lot of things. Probably if we throw 10 of them up on the wall, nine of them suck, and then one of them might be genius. And sometimes the difference between something really, really smart and something really, really dumb is not that much.”

How Opposing Defenses Effect Riley’s Offensive Play Calling

“That's kind of just the, the chess match, right. And it’s how much do you react to that versus how much do you run your own system. I think there's definitely some push-pull there. I think, you know, big picture what you're trying to develop is an offense, a defense, a special teams."

"It doesn't matter what side of the ball it is where no matter how people play you, you feel like you have the weapons, you have the techniques, you have the scheme to be able to attack people, you know, right back with whatever they do.”

“And so I've never cared a whole lot like how many times we run it and throw it. I pay very little attention to it. At halftime, it's one of the things I rarely look at. It's just to me, how are they playing us? Are we challenging them? Are we doing things that can help us be effective? To me, run, pass and all that, it's not irrelevant, but it's overrated to me. It's more about, are you moving it? And are you doing things that you do well and doing things that give people trouble?”