Trojan transformation: Riley’s remarkable fix at USC

LOS ANGELES — When Lincoln Riley took over Southern California’s fourwin football program one year ago this week, the coach stood on the top rim of the Coliseum and boldly declared his Trojans should be competing for championships right away.

Riley chuckled Tuesday when he was reminded of that exhilarating time in his life after his shocking departure from Oklahoma, but he has no interest in gloating about just how right he turned out to be.

“I feel a lot right now like I did then,” Riley said. “When you do sit back for a second and think about where we were a year ago, and some of the things that have transpired for this team and the program during that time, it’s fun to think about. But it’s just not the time and place right now.”

Riley has delivered on his declaration with a swiftness that even surprises some of the players who have turned USC (11-1, 8-1 Pac-12) into the nation’s fourth-ranked team with a chance at both the Pac-12 title and a College Football Playoff berth. The Trojans even won both of their biggest rivalry matchups against UCLA and Notre Dame in the past two weeks, reclaiming the Victory

Bell and the Jeweled Shillelagh.

It’s a stunning correction to a miserable decade-plus for the West Coast’s marquee program, which has won just one conference crown since 2008 and has never played in the CFP, which began in 2014.

USC will be in Las Vegas on Friday night for the Pac-12 title game against No. 12 Utah, the only team to beat Riley’s Trojans this season. One more payback victory in a year dubbed “a revenge tour” by star USC defensive end Tuli Tuipulotu would punctuate this season with an exclamation point, even if it isn’t over yet.

“It is a crazy story, but I think we knew that we had to turn everything around, and we’ve been working ever since Lincoln Riley came in,” said Tuipulotu, the FBS leader with 12 1⁄2 sacks. “We knew it was going to happen if we kept working.”

Riley and Heisman Trophy favorite Caleb Williams are the faces of this turnaround as two former Sooners who moved to California and immediately hit it big. But the coach and his players all say this flashy transformation happened because of 12 months of hard work and a fierce commitment to team-building.

“From spring ball to summer workouts, I thought we were going to be a great team,” said Williams, the elusive quarterback with 3,712 yards passing and a school-record 44 total touchdowns. “The outside world is going to say what they want to say, and we’re 11-1 right now, so obviously it doesn’t matter. We thought we were a great team, and we’ve shown that.”

USC restocked its roster with a host of talent from the transfer portal, particularly at the offensive skill positions, but the bedrock of this hard-hitting team is the players left behind after seven modestly successful seasons under Clay Helton. That veteran core was hurt and humbled after going 4-8 last year under Helton and interim coach Donte Williams — but almost nobody left, and almost everybody improved under the guidance of Riley’s staff.

“Some teams really whooped us last year and disrespected us, even in our home stadium,” center Brett Neilon said. “I think that made the bond even tighter between the guys that are left here, and I think it had a trickle-down effect to some of the new guys. I feel like last year we had really good talent, and we were just getting beat. Coming back here this year, we’re making the wrongs right.”