Lincoln Riley shares confidence level in Makai Lemon

USC has gotten out to a decent start to the season, though a late loss at Illinois certainly stung and took a bite out of the team’s momentum. But a big part of the hot start has been receiver Makai Lemon.

He has certainly made life easier on starting quarterback Jayden Maiava. And the best might still be in front of him.

Head coach Lincoln Riley was recently asked where Makai Lemon stacks up with other great receivers he has coached over the years. And while the boss man declined to order them, it’s clear Lemon is starting to work his way toward the top.

“I don’t rank ’em while they play for me, but he’s playing good ball for us right now,” Riley said. “I mean his versatility and consistency really stands out to me in the way that he’s playing.”

Lemon is coming off his best game of the season. He hauled in 11 passes for 151 yards and two touchdowns at Illinois, featuring heavily in the offense. The 11 catches were a season high, as were the two touchdown receptions.

Makai Lemon has already topped the 100-yard receiving mark in three of five games this season, including the last two. USC is starting to hone in on how to use him best.

“He’s a guy that we feel like can do a lot of different things well on the field and that allows us to use him in different areas and be creative and try to get him in situations where we feel like the advantage is going to be ours,” Riley said. “He’s improving. He works hard out here at his craft, football’s important to him. And he just keeps getting better and better and I think our confidence in him just keeps growing as well.”

Lincoln Riley addresses Bryan Jackson’s health

While Makai Lemon is providing plenty in the passing game, USC coach Lincoln Riley is still without a timetable for running back Bryan Jackson to make his return from injury. That said, the team is still optimistic that Jackson will be back this year.

The sophomore hasn’t played since Week 1 due to an undisclosed injury. Although Riley wasn’t able to provide much of an update on his status, he did confirm that he is not yet considered out for the season.

“Not yet,” the coach said. “We certainly don’t feel like we’ve lost him for the season, but I couldn’t sit here and say that he’s for sure gonna be available in the next couple of weeks.”

Jackson is coming off of a true freshman campaign in which he played in all 13 games, rushing for 188 yards and one touchdown on 36 carries. He also scored a touchdown in this year’s season opener against Missouri State.

On3’s Chandler Vessels also contributed to this report.