Matt Leinart claims USC was close to 10-win season, College Football Playoff berth in 2024

The last seven seasons of USC football hasn’t quite lived up to the program standard set in the early 2000s, as the Trojans have recorded just one 10-plus win season since 2017 (2022).

The 2024 campaign marked the third of the Lincoln Riley era at USC. The Trojans opened the season strong with a win over No. 13 LSU and Utah State, but dropped four of their next five games to No. 18 Michigan, Minnesota, No. 4 Penn State and Maryland. It then went 3-2 over its final five games with a win over Texas A&M in the Las Vegas Bowl, cementing what was a 7-6 season.

Five of USC‘s losses last season came by one possession, leaving many Trojan fans very disappointed at what could have been a special year. One of these USC supporters, former Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Matt Leinart, made his claim at Big Ten Media Days that USC was close to a 10-win season and a College Football Playoff berth last season.

“You look at USC, UCLA, both teams need to get better,” Leinart said. “USC, in particular, I’m actually very interested in this year. They made huge strides on defense a year ago, I think we saw that. They were so close last year in a lot of games. Excuses — you can’t have excuses. But those plays go a different way, maybe they’re 10-3 and in a playoff, or 10-2 and in a playoff. They need to learn how to finish. I always say this and Pete Carroll at USC, our whole program was built on finishing.”

“Whether it was schoolwork, whether it was in the gym, whether it was meetings, just be the best and finish until the very end. You start to develop that mindset — I know that’s kind of been a big thing for them this offseason — hopefully, that translates into the games. But I think — what are they, ninth? Preseason ninth (in the) poll, which means nothing, but people are going to overlook them this year. I think they’re going to be pretty good.”

The 2025 season will be extremely important for the Trojans and Lincoln Riley, heading into his fourth season at the helm. Riley has guided USC to a 26-14 record with two bowl victories in three seasons, but hasn’t notched a 10-win campaign since his first season in 2022.

USC opens the 2025 campaign against Missouri State on August 30.