Lincoln Riley admits he made costly 'stupid call' vs. Notre Dame

Throughout his career, USC head coach Lincoln Riley has been a quarterback guru who is known for producing Heisman Trophy-caliber quarterbacks. That’s why many fans were surprised when he took the ball out of quarterback Jayden Maiava‘s hands late in the game against Notre Dame and tried a trick play with wide receiver Makai Lemon.

The play, of course, didn’t work. In the driving rain, the play call didn’t just not work, it was a disaster. The Notre Dame defense sniffed it out and when Lemon went to throw the ball, he lost his grip, fumbling, and turning the ball over to the Irish. It stunted a promising drive where USC had seemingly found some offensive success.

After the game, Lincoln Riley would admit that the trick play to Makai Lemon was a “stupid call.” He didn’t elaborate much more beyond what he meant, though. Of course, most fans watching can see why Riley might not be thrilled with the call in hindsight.

“It’s a stupid call,” Riley said. “Stupid call.”

At the time, there were less than 12 minutes left in the fourth quarter and Notre Dame led 27-24. Maiava and Lemon had just connected to get the ball inside the Irish 40-yard line, and Notre Dame’s defense seemed to be on its heels. That’s when Riley broke out the trick play. USC ran a reverse to Lemon who would then step back to throw the ball, losing it as he got hit.

Notre Dame quickly responded by going down to score, making it 34-24. Worse, it ignited the home crowd and swung all the momentum back to the Irish. That, of course, would end up being the final score. With that, Riley and USC lost their third-straight game to Notre Dame.

Throughout the game, turnovers were a major issue for USC. Jayden Maiava threw two interceptions to go along with that fumble. That actually doubled Maiava’s total number of interceptions he’d thrown all season long. For a team coming from Los Angeles to South Bend, the driving rain, particularly in the second half, didn’t help the situation.

“They were a little more of a factor in the second half,” Riley said. “I mean, obviously, I think everybody could see that. And so you still gotta be able to run the ball, to hang on to the ball, finish plays. I mean, the conditions are what they are at the end of the day. We all got to play in them. And so it’s just the hand that we were all dealt tonight.”

USC dropped to 5-2 on the season with the loss to Notre Dame. It wasn’t ideal, but their goals should still be ahead of them. With just one loss in Big Ten play, making the conference championship isn’t out of the conversation yet. Even without that, a 10-2 Big Ten team should find itself in the College Football Playoff.