Should USC Trojans Lincoln Riley Be Fired After Notre Dame Loss, Mediocre Season?

The USC Trojans fell to 6-6 on the season after a 49-35 home loss to rival Notre Dame. After a season filled with quarterback controversy, late-game collapses, and revolving recruiting results, is coach Lincoln Riley on the hot seat?

Nov 30, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley leaves the field after the game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The USC Trojans dropped their final regular-season game of the year 49-35 to No. 6 Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Hosting Notre Dame in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the Battle of the Jeweled Shillelagh is one of the biggest stages for the Trojans.

While the final score may not indicate how competitive the game was for most of the action, it does represent the issue that has plagued USC football in literally every loss this season: coaching. Lincoln Riley is 14-11 in the last 25 games as coach. Riley isn’t on the hot seat yet, but the clock starts Week One of the 2025 season. 

The Trojans fell to 6-6 on the season. In their first year as a Big Ten program, USC finished 4-5 in conference play and lost four of five road conference games. The lone victory was a 19-13 win across Los Angeles in the Rose Bowl against UCLA. Turnovers, missed opportunities, and, most importantly, poor situational coaching. It was a historically unusual season for the Trojans. They held a lead in the fourth quarter in all of their losses outside of the Notre Dame game today.

Finish 6-6 and just really have no clue what we are ? Who we are? There’s no identity. We have good players. Need to recruit harder. As frustrated as anyone. Want to see USC back to being a contender. Don’t think we are close at the moment.

— Matt Leinart (@MattLeinartQB) December 1, 2024

“We battled today like we have all year. We just didn't quite play good enough opposite in the second half, and I gave ourselves some chances right there at the end and trying to stay aggressive, and obviously some plays just didn't do our way. And but give credit to Notre Dame's good football team.” said coach Lincoln Riley in the post-game press conference. 

A major turning point in the season was the benching of starting quarterback Miller Moss for UNLV transfer quarterback Jayden Maiava. Maiava’s skill set is similar to the Lincoln Riley quarterbacks of old, but the talent level isn’t the same as those players to come before him. The USC fan base had been split for most of the season over the two quarterbacks but ultimately felt the decision was necessary after a 26-21 loss at Washington. 

“He's done a good job, you know, it's not an easy situation to go into, especially when you're playing, you know, three good programs, three, three good defenses. I mean, there wasn't a, you know, there wasn't a gimme, you know, on that schedule and so especially the way played today. I mean, that's the best we've played offensively all year.” said Lincoln Riley of Maiava’s three-game run as the starter. 

This is not USC football

— Matt Barkley (@MattBarkley) December 1, 2024

The thing is, it didn’t matter who was under center, the same problem remained. The situational play calling and the lack of balance between the run game, passing attack, and gadget plays were lacking ball season outside of the end of the UCLA game, where they only scored 19 points. That 19 was good enough that night, and that’s all that matters, but from a macro perspective, it’s just not enough. USC is far too talented to have been as mediocre or a scoring offense as they were this season.

That’s on Lincoln Riley. USC averaged 30.5 points per game with Moss as the starter and 27.3 with Maiava as the starter. Running backs Woody Marks and Quentin Joyner averaged 5.7 and 7.5 yards per carry. Despite these numbers and a young, struggling offensive line, this team threw the ball on average more than any Lincoln Riley team ever. Caleb Williams, Jalen Hurts, Kyler Murray, Baker Mayfield, and Spencer Rattler were RIleys quarterbacks before the season. The imbalance with the least talented quarterback room and arguably the best running back room of the Riley era was head-scratching.

Lincoln has reached that point of the game where he is calling plays like a 13 year old on xbox

— Jake Olson (@JakeOlson61) November 30, 2024

The defense wasn’t perfect this season, but the improvement on that side of the ball was remarkable compared to what they’d put on the field last season. Even today, the Notre Dame defense scored two touchdowns, and there was a late-game “garbage time” touchdown from USC. There are improvements to make on that side of the ball to ultimately get to where USC wants to be, but they’ve gotten much better. The offense regressed tremendously. 

The seat isn’t hot just yet, but the burner just turned on. It’s now or never for Lincoln Riley at USC. The early signing period will be here soon. Riley’s first objective on the checklist starts there.

MORE: Chicago Bears Caleb Williams Addresses Questionable Game Management By Matt Eberflus

MORE: USC Trojans Hosting Elite Recruits, Flip Targets For Notre Dame Game

MORE: How to Watch USC Trojans vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish: Preview, Prediction, Channel

MORE: USC Trojans Predicted to Land 5-Star Jahkeem Stewart Over Oregon, Ohio State, LSU

MORE: How to Watch USC Trojans vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish: Preview, Prediction, TV Channel

MORE: Why USC Trojans Running Back Commit Duane Morris Flips to Tennessee Volunteers

MORE: USC Trojans, Notre Dame Fighting Irish Betting Odds: Can USC Pull Off Upset?

MORE: USC Trojans Schedule: Notre Dame Kickoff Time, TV Channel Announced

MORE: College GameDay's Kirk Herbstreit Falsely Claims USC Trojans' Miller Moss Transferred

MORE: Why Four-Star Recruit Alex Payne Flipped to USC Trojans From North Carolina Tar Heels

MORE: USC Trojans Quarterback Commit Husan Longstreet Recruiting 5-Star Brandon Arrington To USC