USC's dreams for 2026 season already on life support after five games

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Lincoln Riley and the USC Trojans suffered another big loss to the Oregon Ducks. It feels like this is the exact same team Riley has brought out to the field. It's another team which has not matched the standard of USC football. The Trojans are not out of contention for the College Football Playoff with this loss, but they still seem far away from a team of that caliber.

My overreaction take for Week 4 is that the USC Trojans may not survive Big Ten conference play, let alone make the end goal of the College Football Playoff. Making the College Football Playoff would for sure save Riley's job and extend his time. However, the product USC has put on the field is a team that is not ready to win much of anything postseason-related.

The Trojans face Washington this week, and although they lost to the Gophers, the Huskies are more talented than a Rutgers team that took USC down to the wire. Demond Williams is going to give the Trojans' defense real issues. That is not a layup victory, nor a game the Trojans can look past their opponent.

Following that, USC has to face Penn State, Wisconsin, Ohio State, and Indiana. It seems like a guarantee that the Trojans will not beat Indiana and Ohio State if they cannot beat Oregon. After that, Wisconsin and Penn State are teams the Trojans have to face on the road in hostile environments. I do not see how anyone can be confident that the Trojans team that played Oregon can beat either of those teams on the road.

UCLA at the end of the season is not a game the Trojans should be looking forward to either. A game like Saturday's game against Oregon is a huge letdown that could definitely linger into the rest of the season. It is hard to bet on this team right now turning the ship around and taking care of business against the rest of a tough schedule.

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This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC's dreams for 2026 season already on life support after five games

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