Lincoln Riley Gets Real On Challenges Of USC Trojans Mock Week

The USC Trojans are in mock week as they continue to prep for their season opener against the San Jose State Spartans on Aug. 29 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. For coach Lincoln Riley, mock week gives USC the opportunity to run live-game situations, including crowd noise at home and on the road.

On Thursday, Riley spoke about the progress mock week has brought and the challenges that transitioning from fall camp to mock week brings for the Trojans as they prep for their season opener against San Jose State.

What Lincoln Riley Said

USC Trojans College Football Big Ten Lincoln Riley coach San Jose State Spartans season opener fall camp mock week practice — Nov 7, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley watches game action against the Northwestern Wildcats during the second half at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Challenges Of Mock Week

“There's always a lot. I think people kind of hear the word mock week, and you think it kind of sounds like a smooth week. There's so much to do in a mock week. Like a mock week, in a weird way, is almost busier than the first game week because there's just so much prep work to do, and, like today, we actually take them over to the team hotel."

"We take them over to the locker room at the Coliseum today. I mean, we do a lot of things that we won't actually do kind of during the week on an actual game week. You've got to get them ready for it. I think the added challenge, which is a great challenge to have right now, is starting to understand how we're gonna use this facility during game weeks.”

“With it obviously being new, and then the guys start class next week. You're working through all the, obviously, all their schedules and trying to help get them on the ideal routine. So, now it's a busy week, but I do think you start to feel in mock week when camp is over that, like, all right, the games are almost here. I think there is that, you can feel that kind of energy and buzz throughout the program right now of the anticipation of the season."

"I think that provides a lot of energy throughout this week. Obviously, the guys, all of us, are eager for the first game to get here and to get started, but I think the anticipation of it, and knowing that you want to hone in on all these details before game week, it's important, and so far, the guys have done a good job of it.”

Running Noise System During Mock Week

“Definitely had some input on it. That's something that is tough to recreate at times, and so we spent some time and energy and effort on the system and kind of how that would work, and, obviously, now kind of being able to have that entire complex kind of in all the different, mechanical, electrical things, all that we had to do, it opened up an opportunity to attack that as well."

"We spent some time on that trying to do everything we could to recreate some of those scenarios. I would say from what we were using before to now, it's like going from the minor to the major leagues. I'll put it that way. It's a huge advantage for us. It helps a lot.”

“It helps recreate, especially as the Coliseum is ramped back up, and we've had some awesome home-field advantages that get us ready for that, and then going on the road to some of these Big Ten venues. It's certainly been super helpful, and it's pretty good. They’ve actually only seen it at 70 percent too. It’s got some real power, but I mean, operating in those moments and players being used to it is a real thing.”

“The more you can recreate that stuff, the more prepared they're going to be. Now I think our guys are ready, especially our guys that have already played in some big road venues. The value of that versus kind of what we were using before. That it's pretty apparent, so it's everybody on the field right now. So awesome thing. Glad we did it. It turned out tremendous.”

Midnight Drill

“We started it about two and a half years ago, and we've had to adjust some of those types of drills because of, kind of, contact issues before you had the old Oklahoma drill and bull in the ring- a lot of those things that everyone did- and a lot of those things ended up getting outlawed.”

“They're pretty specific on drills like that, of like how you can operate them and still be safe. This drill works because it's guys attacking from an angle and not just head to head. Which is one of the reasons they outlawed some of those other drills. It's become a little bit of a rite of passage, I would say, in our program. Everybody does it at some point. It obviously creates a little bit of the arena feel. Our guys get jacked up about it."

"A lot of our guys wish we would do it even more than we do. In the matchups, we choose those as coaches. We try to do a good job of the guys that we want to see some of the different matchups that we think would be intriguing or challenging for people."

"We've also used it occasionally; not as I said, has been prevalent, but if another player wants to kind of call another player out and kind of create a matchup, it kind of gives us a vehicle to get that done, right? If something like that happens or there's a little scuffle or something like that in practice, then occasionally we'll just match those guys up in midnight alley and let them settle the old-fashioned way.”

Desman Stephens II Growth

USC Trojans College Football Big Ten Desman Stephens II linebacker growth fall camp defense Gary Patterson Lincoln Riley — Dec 30, 2025; San Antonio, TX, USA; Southern California Trojans linebacker Desman Stephens II (23) celebrates against the TCU Horned Frogs in the second half during the Alamo Bowl at Alamodome. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

“I think, one, taking some of his experiences from last year and understanding, no matter what we're doing schematically, just how he's got to continue to improve as a player and a leader, playing all the snaps that he did last year.  Obviously, as a pretty young guy in there or was super viable."

"Thought he played some of his best ball towards the end of the year and really started to get settled in on the physicality and the speed of the game and how you got to prepare. And so I think he's taken a lot of those lessons and really taken some steps forward. I think he's been a really nice fit into what we're doing defensively, and some of the changes that we've made there. He's one of the guys I think that took to it maybe the fastest, and I think that combined with all of his experience has really shown up.”

“I think he's much more physical at the point of attack than he was last year.  I mean, you just kind of feel that on how he's taking on blocks, how he's disengaging. I think he's a smarter player than he was at any point last year, and his ability to diagnose what the offense is doing, and what we need to do to stop it, has been pretty impressive. He's always been a good athlete, with good range. You've always liked his physical skills, but the mental, the experience, and I think the physicality have all taken some big jumps, and we need that."  

"I mean, a MIKE linebacker, I mean, that's the heart of a defense, right? And you need all of those things being done at a high level to be a great defense. And he'shad a really, really strong camp been steady, his bad plays have been few and far between, and he's made a lot of, you know, very impactful plays, too. I think that's a position, just looking ahead, that we feel like Des and other guys in the room - that MIKE linebacker position is when we feel like we should take a pretty big jump on. Compared to our production, maybe in the last few years.”

“The concepts we struggle with a little bit more on in spring, um, and one of the ones I feel like has taken a big jump, and we've really improved on here in fall camp, and, and, obviously, that'll be important here to start the year.”

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