P.J. Fleck has studied USC head coach Lincoln Riley for years

Fleck has a lot of respect for USC's head coach.

Sep 28, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley reacts after a game against the Wisconsin Badgers at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

In 2017, P.J. Fleck and Lincoln Riley began their respective journeys as major conference college football head coaches. They were both under 40 years old and viewed as two of the most exciting young coaches in the sport.

Fast-forward to this season, Riley is in his third season at USC and eighth overall, while Fleck is in his eighth year at Minnesota. Each coach has had ups and downs, but Fleck has been admiring Riley from afar.

"I have studied him for a lot of years, just watching what he's done at Oklahoma and USC," Fleck said Monday, looking ahead to their showdown in Minneapolis set for Saturday night. "He's part of that generation that has reinvented the game of his offensive mind and what he's able to do. I have a ton of respect for him and you can tell by how hard his guys play on offense."

Coming from the Mike Leach coaching tree, Riley has gained a reputation as one of the best play-callers the sport has ever seen. USC is averaging 34.2 points per game this season, but his offenses have never averaged less than 39 points per game in any of his other seven seasons as a head coach.

This season, USC is relying more on the run and the Trojans are averaging five yards per carry, which ranks 35th in college football. Mississippi State transfer Woody Marks has 334 rushing yards on the season and three touchdowns.

"I think one thing that Lincoln has done a great job of as he's gone through his career is he's running the football more effective than he ever has," Fleck said. "He's not running it to just break the throwing streaks; he's running it with effectiveness to run the football."

Riley's teams have always had the most success when they can run the football and it looks like they have a balanced attack this season. Minnesota defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman has been tasked with slowing down dominant running teams Iowa nad Michigan the last two weeks, and now he'll get a balanced USC offense as the Gophers attempt to upset the No. 11 team in the nation.

Fleck's Gophers take on Riley's Trojans at 6:30 p.m. CT Saturday.