USC Coach Lincoln Riley Addresses Big Ten Officiating, Missed Penalty

The USC Trojans are fresh of a bye week and now will get ready for a showdown against the Michigan Wolverines at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Saturday, Oct. 11. It will be an evening kickoff at 4:30 p.m. PT in Los Angeles. The game will be broadcast on NBC.

USC coach Lincoln Riley made his weekly appearance on Trojans Live on Monday night. Riley dove into what went wrong against Illinois while also giving a sneak preview of Michigan. He also gave a message to USC fans that will be at the Coliseum for the game.

Perhaps the most notable takeaway was Lincoln Riley’s frustration with Big Ten officiating. Riley pointed to a missed call on a pivotal play during USC’s loss to Illinois. On Illinois running back Kaden Feagin’s 64-yard touchdown reception, USC cornerback Braylon Conley appeared to be held, but no flag was thrown.

"I know the one should have been a penalty and the league missed it. It is what it is," Riley said.

What Lincoln Riley Said

USC Trojans Lincoln Riley Michigan Wolverines Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Bye Week Big Ten Football Illinois Fighting Illin — Sep 27, 2025; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley before an NCAA football game with the Illinois Fighting Illini at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images | Ron Johnson-Imagn Images

What Were You Able to Accomplish on Bye Week?

“All byes are good. It’s a good opportunity no matter if it’s after game two or game four or game six to look at what you’ve done, where you need to get better. Have some time that you can really dive into it. I think this one for us this year in this moment was important just because of the health of our team.”

“We have not been a very healthy team, honestly really the entire year. That’s showed up here a little bit in the last couple games. Chance to try to get some bodies back. Get some guys back healthy was definitely one of the most important things.”

“And then it was a great chance for us here after five games to take some stock on area that we need to improve and that was really the focus of the entire week. It was a heavy fundamental kind of just self awareness, self improvement type week and we pushed the guys pretty hard and gave them a little bit of downtime here through the weekend…Guys were excited to be back yesterday.”

Thoughts On Team After Five Games

“There’s obviously been a lot of good. We sit here 4-1 and a snap away from having all of them. There’s a lot of positives. Each game, there’s been different challenges. I think for us it was making sure that we really get back to the fundamentals; blocking, tackling, finishing blocks, having the ability to break tackles…We spent a lot of time on special teams in the bye week as well."

I think each position group, each side of the ball certainly has a laundry list of things that we know that we’re going to have to do better, improve as the year goes on…Also just doing a lot of education on game situations, penalties.”

Jayden Maiava Against Illinois

“He had two tough series in a row like you said. We were driving and then had the pick and then missed a couple of guys on the next series. Honestly, I wasn’t very worried in moment just because that’s what he’s done in all of his starts going back to last year…When he’s had a stretch that wasn’t is best he’s always responded.”

“Every time he starts a game he gives us a chance to win. Every single game that he’s played for us, he’s given us a golden opportunity to win the football game. He’s off to a great start in his career as a Trojans and I just think the kid is going to keep getting better and better.”

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Defensive Corrections To Be Made

“The biggest thing is don’t give up two perimeter plays for huge chunk yardage plays…I know the one should have been a penalty and the league missed it. It is what it is. But you don’t give those up.”

“At the end of the day, it’s a wildly different game when that happens. Obviously it hurt us not having one of the best safeties in the country that morning all of a sudden cant play. I thought some of those young guys jumped in there and battled and did some really nice things but we got to leverage the ball correctly and tackle on the perimeter.”

On Having Makai Lemon

“It’s great. Not only a guy that can make different plays…He’s a smart player. The ability we have to move him around and do different things, run different types of routes, he’s a good blocker. We use him in a lot of ways to get him at the point of attack from a blocking standpoint. He’s playing complete football right now.”

Ja’Kobi Lane’s On-Field Gravity

“He’s a unique matchup out there. People have to sit there and decide ‘am I going to commit two players to try to defend this guy or am I going to take my chances playing him one-on-one.’ That’s typically a matchup that we like.”

On Michigan Coming To Coliseum

“It’s one we’ve definitely been looking forward to and our fans have been looking forward to. Great kickoff time. It should be an awesome night. Two iconic programs getting a chance to go at it and obviously as you guys referenced it, we had a hell of a battle with these guys last year that went right down to the wire.”

“When this whole merger with the Big Ten and all of that came to mind, I think these were some of the game you thought about first. Opportunities that would not have happened without us joining this league. It will be a cool meeting, a historic meeting and I can tell you our guys are ready for this one.”

Challenges Michigan’s Offense Provides

“I think it starts with the run game. Their running back is having a really good year…When you got a very young, talented quarterback, when you got a good run game and a chance to break some of those big one it definitely takes a little bit of pressure off of him.”

“He’s (quarterback Bryce Underwood) a good player, a really good athlete as a true freshman and they’ve got some really good players around him.”

Michigan Defensive Coordinator Wink Martindale

“They do a really good job. They’re smart with the personnel that they have. They’ve got a lot of depth. You see them rotate a lot of different bodies, especially on that defensive front. They’ve had as couple guys return in the secondary the last few weeks. I think that have really helped them. They’re a really good defense…Really good on the edge, still got some really good interior guys, they tackle well, and Wink does a good job…It will be a fun challenge for us.”

Message To Trojans Fans Coming To Coliseum For Michigan Game

"It's going to be crazy important. Even for all of us Trojans, we're not playing last weekend and you look across college football, winning on the road is tough. And you saw it everywhere. Really good football teams go into tough road environments and are not be able to win. Your home field advantage is really, really important...It's going to be an electric atmosphere."