Matt Rhule calls Lincoln Riley 'one of the best offensive minds in football'

Nebraska will clash with USC this weekend in a battle of two of the Big Ten’s strongest teams. The Trojans are coming off their second loss of the season to Notre Dame, while the Cornhuskers rebounded from an upset loss to Minnesota with a 28-21 win over Northwestern.

Ahead of the matchup, Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule spoke highly of USC head coach Lincoln Riley on The Pat McAfee Show. Last season, Riley’s Trojans held off Nebraska 28-20 in Los Angeles.

“I think he’s brilliant,” Rhule said. “I think he’s a great guy. He was the Offensive Coordinator at East Carolina when I was at Temple as the head coach. He had a great offense at East Carolina, then obviously he was at Oklahoma and I was at Baylor, so I had a chance to go against him there. I think he’s one of the best offensive minds in football and he does it so many different ways. He played one way with Baker (Mayfield) and the next year, he had Kyler Murray and he played a different way. Then he had Jalen Hurts and revamped his offense.”

Lincoln Riley’s explosive USC offense ranks first in the country

“At the end of the day, he always scores points and runs the football,” Rhule continued. “For us, there’s no secret formula. We’ve got to play well. We’re gonna have to play well on offense and defense. We’ve been playing great on special teams. We’ve got to keep that up. Hopefully, we can get to the fourth quarter and it’s in the 20s and it’s freezing cold here Saturday night. We need to get to the fourth quarter and just make one more play.”

It will be a tall task slowing down Riley’s offense. USC ranks first in the country in yards per game (530 YPG) and fifth in the country in points per game (42.4 PPG).

It’s been an up-and-down season for Nebraska, as it opened the year 3-0 before falling to No. 21 Michigan in its season opener. The Huskers bounced back with wins over Michigan State and Maryland before being upset by Minnesota on the road. Following its win over Northwestern last Saturday, Nebraska sits at 6-2 and could hit four conference victories for just the second time since 2015 with a win over the Trojans.

Rhule’s success at Nebraska has led to his name being tied with the Penn State head coaching search, but he reportedly agreed to a contract extension with the Huskers on Thursday. Rhule is signed with the Huskers through the 2032 season, including a $15 million buyout this year. Sources have told On3’s Pete Nakos that Rhule has been adamant about funding the roster at a high level.