‘We Gave Him All That Money’, ‘There’s No Signature Win’ — USC Legend Puts Lincoln Riley on the Hot Seat Ahead of Crucial Oregon Clash

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With the 42-35 win over Rutgers, Lincoln Riley’s USC remains undefeated at 4-0 in the 2026 season. However, the pressure on Riley is expected to intensify as the Trojans prepare for a challenging stretch that includes the upcoming game against Dan Lanning’s Oregon.

USC legend Keyshawn Johnson believes Riley’s future in Los Angeles could be significantly influenced by how he and the Trojans perform in these high-profile games.

Keyshawn Johnson Reveals Why Lincoln Riley Is Under Pressure Ahead of USC-Oregon

When USC hired Riley as its head coach, expectations were enormous. Riley even secured 11 wins in his first season in 2022, and USC entered the 2022 Pac-12 Championship Game ranked No. 4 by the College Football Playoff committee and in position to reach the playoff.

The Trojans were leading Utah late in the first half of the Pac-12 Championship Game that season, but everything unraveled from there. Utah outscored USC the rest of the way to win the game, ending the Trojans’ playoff hopes.

Riley has not reached double-digit wins with USC since that opening season. Even his tenure has yet to produce a conference championship or a College Football Playoff appearance.

Four games into the current season, USC has shown flashes of dominance, but the school has also displayed some of the inconsistency that has followed the program under Riley.

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In the latest episode of the “All The Smoke” podcast, Johnson discussed the pressure surrounding Riley and acknowledged that the head coach is firmly part of the hot-seat conversation.

“It really is,” Johnson said. “See, part of the problem is we gave him all that money and he’s been with us now for five years. And there’s no signature win under his belt. Had he won against Utah in the Pac-12 Championship the first year he got here and took us to the playoffs, he would then get more leeway.”

“But the fact that we just spent $20M and something million dollars on the new facility, and the noise about the crowd and all that [expletive], which to me is crazy. But you just get all of that negativity… Now we’ll see this next test. Our next test is Oregon.”

Keyshawn is not wrong, as Saturday’s game with Oregon represents perhaps the biggest test of Riley’s USC tenure, as the conversation has shifted from what the Trojans could eventually become to what they can prove they are right now.

However, USC has lost four straight to Oregon and eight of the past 10 meetings and Riley knows the challenge ahead.

“It’s definitely an important game,” Riley said. “There’s no question about it. It’s two good teams, two really good programs going at it. It was a really big game last year, too. It had playoff implications and all of that.”

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A strong performance against Oregon could provide a huge boost, while another setback would raise questions about what the team can accomplish over the remainder of the season. The challenges are particularly high because USC still has games against Ohio State and Indiana remaining on its schedule.

However, there is some optimism for the Oregon game, as USC will have the benefit of playing at home. The Trojans will also be relying on a quarterback in Jayden Maiava, who currently ranks No. 5 in PFN’s College QB Impact score with an 89.1 grade through four games.

This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network.

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