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Matt Leinart sees College Football Playoff as USC's ceiling

Danby: Daniel Hager09/26/25DanielHagerOn3
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© Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

For the third time in four seasons, head coach Lincoln Riley has led USC to a 4-0 record to open the season. The Trojans, now ranked No. 21 in the AP Poll, have been absolutely dominant through those four games. They’re outscoring opponents 210-81 and boast the nation’s third-best offense (583.8 YPG).

USC has opened Big Ten play with a 2-0 record, although those wins have come against teams that did not make a bowl game last season (Purdue and Michigan State). That luck, however, comes to an end this weekend, as the Trojans travel to No. 23 Illinois for a Top 25 conference matchup, one of two occurring in the conference this weekend (No. 3 Penn State/No. 6 Oregon).

Ahead of USC‘s clash with Illinois, former Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Matt Leinart tabbed the College Football Playoff as its ceiling. He did so during an appearance on ‘The Joel Klatt Show.’

Leinart emphasizes importance of USC’s game against Oregon

“I think the ceiling is that they’re a Playoff team,” Leinart said. “I think that’s the ceiling. They can get to the Playoff. So I think they’re a 10-2 team and I think 10-2 USC has got a great shot to get into the Playoff. I literally look at this week and the next five weeks, and I think Oregon is in November. But, you have Illinois, which I think USC will win.

“But then you have Michigan, Nebraska, Notre Dame and then you’re at Oregon. I think Oregon is a tough one for them on the road. You have to win two of those four games. You have to beat Notre Dame and Michigan assuming there’s a loss to Oregon down that stretch. I think 10-2 is in the Playoff, and again they were really bad on the road last year.

“They couldn’t close out games. So far, so good. But this is where you get into the meat of your schedule and say ‘can we sustain this type of play?’ We’ve got depth, but we’re fairly thin in some areas. The pass defense is not great at the moment, and that’s one thing that can concern you against the Oregon‘s of the world. Even Notre Dame with CJ Carr can throw the football. But I think they’re a 10-2, 11-1 team if they continue to play the way they are. You could say they haven’t played anybody, but they’re dominating in every facet of the game and they’re improving in every part of the game.”

Kickoff between the Trojans and Illini on Saturday is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. ET. The game can be seen on FOX.