{"id":340705,"date":"2025-10-29T12:03:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T12:03:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/340705\/"},"modified":"2025-10-29T12:03:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T12:03:13","slug":"usc-focused-on-rebounding-after-ugly-notre-dame-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/340705\/","title":{"rendered":"USC focused on rebounding after ugly Notre Dame loss"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

USC<\/a> had lost four of five, its season already all but lost, when Lincoln Riley<\/a> made a bold move early last November that would have lasting ripple effects. He benched starting quarterback Miller Moss<\/a>, in favor of backup Jayden Maiava<\/a>, whose big arm and mobility gave the Trojans\u2019 offense a different, more dynamic look.<\/p>\n

The sudden switch made for a tense two weeks leading up to last season\u2019s meeting with Nebraska. Not everyone in the locker room, you see, was thrilled with Moss\u2019 removal.<\/p>\n

But the move paid dividends in the end. Maiava injected life into the offense, USC returned from its bye and won three of its last four to finish the season. More critically, Riley found his quarterback of the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way that Jayden handled both when he wasn\u2019t the starter, then when he was, I think set the stage for the player he has started to become and what he means to this program and this team right now,\u201d Riley said this week. \u201cHe handled it with class both ways, and that makes a huge difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"USC <\/p>\n

USC starting quarterback Jayden Maiava throws a pass against Notre Dame at Notre Dame Stadium on Oct. 18.<\/p>\n

(Justin Casterline \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

A season later, USC is once again searching for answers coming out of its second bye, with Nebraska looming in November. Though, none of the questions this time concern the quarterback, who has been one of the best in the Big Ten. Nor are they as easy to solve as plugging in one player.<\/p>\n

USC\u2019s defensive front was just steamrolled for over 300 yards by Notre Dame\u2019s run game<\/a>. The offensive line is still dealing with nagging injuries. And the Trojans own rushing attack left a lot to be desired in their last outing.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, USC is 5-2, still within conceivable reach of the College Football Playoff conversation. The Trojans should be favored in four of their final five games, the lone exception being a trip to Eugene in late November. You don\u2019t have to squint too hard to see a potential path to the Playoff \u2026 assuming USC can iron out its issues, first. That\u2019s more encouraging than the circumstances were at this time last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re still in a good place,\u201d tight end Walker Lyons said. \u201cWe still control our destiny where we\u2019re at right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s been the message since USC left South Bend in bitter defeat. But control could slip through their hands in a hurry if Riley can\u2019t right the ship this week on the road at Nebraska. A single loss, especially one outside of Oregon, would all but sink those hopes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019ve learned a lot about ourselves with some of these really good matchups we\u2019ve had as of late,\u201d Riley said. \u201cWe know what we\u2019ve gotta do. It\u2019s very clear to us. Now we\u2019ve just got to do a great job of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

That part hasn\u2019t been so easy for USC as it unraveled down the stretch in each of its last three seasons. The Trojans are 6-11 in October and November since winning seven of eight during that stretch of Riley\u2019s first campaign.<\/p>\n

Adding a hostile road environment to that equation this week only makes matters more complicated. The Trojans haven\u2019t won a true road game in October or November outside of Los Angeles since Oct. 28, 2023. <\/p>\n

Nor do they seem to have pinned down precisely what\u2019s ailing their defense at the moment. A week after one of USC\u2019s best defensive performances of the season in a win over Michigan, the Trojans suddenly had major errors in execution, leading the Irish to rack up 306 rushing yards, the most ever allowed by a D\u2019Anton Lynn-led defense<\/a>. Lynn, the Trojans\u2019 second-year coordinator, called the mistakes \u201cextremely\u201d frustrating.<\/p>\n

But like Riley, he\u2019s confident a week away will have done USC\u2019s defense well.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, when we\u2019re on the same page, we know we can be a good defense,\u201d Lynn said. \u201cBut we have to be on the same page and trust that the guy next to us is going to do his job, and we don\u2019t have to overcompensate for anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Notre <\/p>\n

Notre Dame\u2019s Jadarian Price (24) carries the ball and pulls away from USC\u2019s Bishop Fitzgerald (19) on Oct. 18 in South Bend, Ind.<\/p>\n

(Paul Beaty \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n

That trust comes much easier now for Maiava, after a full year as USC\u2019s starting quarterback. Though, Nebraska and its top-rated pass defense won\u2019t make it easy, per se. The Huskers are allowing a mere 127 yards passing per game through seven games.<\/p>\n

It all makes for a test that the Trojans can\u2019t afford to fail, one where its quarterback will be critical.<\/p>\n

\u201cKeep your head down, keep fighting,\u201d Maiava said. \u201cJust stay in it no matter what. We had this bye and we got to rest up a little bit which is great. But we need to be that beast every single day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Injury update<\/p>\n

Left tackle Elijah Paige<\/a> and center Kilian O\u2019Connor<\/a> both dressed for practice on Tuesday, but Riley expressed some doubt that USC would have its full starting offensive line available in time for Saturday\u2019s game.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re better,\u201d Riley said, \u201cbut we\u2019re not at a point where I\u2019m like, \u2018Yeah those guys are ready to go.\u2019 We\u2019re just not to that point yet.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"USC had lost four of five, its season already all but lost, when Lincoln Riley made a bold…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":340706,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,262,2961,167829,60839,224,5337,105648,3336,18266,11346,167828,5950,6620,36418,167830,11016,2452,80883],"class_list":{"0":"post-340705","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-defense","11":"tag-la","12":"tag-last-november","13":"tag-lincoln-riley","14":"tag-los-angeles","15":"tag-losangeles","16":"tag-maiava","17":"tag-nebraska","18":"tag-offensive-line","19":"tag-quarterback","20":"tag-run-game","21":"tag-season","22":"tag-time","23":"tag-trojans","24":"tag-ugly-notre-dame-loss","25":"tag-usc","26":"tag-week","27":"tag-yard"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115457360528856144","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340705","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=340705"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340705\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/340706"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=340705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=340705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=340705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}