Everything USC coach Lincoln Riley said about Notre Dame football
USC head coach Lincoln Riley remembers when he was a first-year head coach like Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman. It was only five years ago when he led Oklahoma to a 12-2 record with a trip to the Rose Bowl, where the Sooners lost to Georgia in a College Football Playoff semifinal matchup.
What’s one element Riley underestimated about taking over a program?
“How many questions you can get asked in like 24 hours,” Riley said.
The questions Riley referenced about non-football related inquiries — including one about what color carpeting he liked better for a random room in the facility — matter not this week. Freeman probably got them, too. But now, it’s all about the No. 15 Fighting Irish (8-3) and the No. 6 Trojans (10-1) in the days leading up to Saturday’s showdown at the Los Angeles Coliseum.
Here’s everything Riley said about Notre Dame.
On the intensity playing Notre Dame with so much on the line for USC
“It’s exciting. I think the team is excited to do it. I think you stress to them the fact that we have to continuously improve because you’re obviously playing good opponents. There are a lot of opportunities at stake. I think you have to embrace it, one. Enjoy being in this moment. Enjoy competing at this level. I think it is exciting to play teams like this. There is no question about it. It’s fun playing really good competition at really cool venues with a lot of things on the line. That is so much fun. Embrace it. Let’s make sure we keep getting better.
“I do think they have a sense for it. We’re certainly not going to minimize the moment. I’m not worried about that. It’s probably more about us just staying focused on the process and how can we get better and how we can keep taking the steps internally here we know we need to take and can take.”
On the Notre Dame defense
“They’re good. They still haven’t given up 400 yards yet this year which is hard to do in college football. They’ve been good on third down. They have good players at all levels. You can tell they’ve recruited there for many years. They’ve built a talent base. That shows up. There are a lot of talented guys on that field. When their backups come in, there are still a lot of talented guys on that field.
“They’ve done a nice job. They’ve had a really good defensive year. I don’t see just a ton of weaknesses with the group. They’ve got guys who can rush the passer. They can play well in the secondary. They’ve intercepted balls. They’ve been good on third down. They’re just a good defense. A challenging defense. The margins are thin with a group like that. You’ve got to execute at a high level.
“I’ve said that before when we’ve played good groups, but that’s what shows up. Opportunities are always going to be there, but the windows are tougher. The opportunities may be not as easy sometimes. It’s never easy, but good teams and good defenses make it harder on you to make plays and [Notre Dame does] a nice job of that.”
On Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman
“You can tell he has done a good job. It’s not easy to do your first go around. There is a lot to it. A lot more than you realize and certainly a lot more than the outside realizes when you get into that chair for the first time. And then when you go through some of that adversity for the first time, it’s not easy. Now, all the sudden, everyone is looking at you like, ‘OK, where do we go from here, coach?’
“It brings back some of the emotions of going through all of that for the first time. The ups, the downs. Everything in between. It’s on you at the end of the day. It’s fun, but it’s a lot. But you have to give him, their staff and their team credit because they have rallied and played very well. He’s obviously done a really good job with that team after that tough start.”
On his message to his team prior to the game
“There are so many great reasons to want to play this game and play well. Where do you stop, honestly? The opportunities for this team. Getting a chance to play in a historic rivalry. The last chance for this team to play in the Coliseum. To contain the momentum we have. The chance to compete against a good opponent. It’s awesome. It’s how you would hope to finish a regular season. It will be a great setting. It will be a lot of fun. Our team will be excited to play this game.”
On facing the Notre Dame offense
“Try to make them one-dimensional. Obviously they do a good job running the football, and they have obviously done a really nice job with play action and certainly involving the tight end. He’s really a tremendous player. He’s one of the best tight ends that we’ve played and one of the best tight ends out there. A lot of their offense starts with run, play action and involving him in the throw game.
“So we’ve got to do a good job there and try to make them one-dimensional. Let our pass rush get heated up. We’ve done a tremendous job of turning the ball over and making those big, game-changing plays. We have to create those opportunities and go make them ourselves.
“Against a good team like this, it’s about a team effort. Maybe their numbers offensively aren’t off the charts, but they have scored points. It’s because they’ve gotten stops on defense. They’ve made big plays on special teams. There are other ways as a team to make that happen other than going out there and producing all of that offensively. They’ve gotten the most out of their offensive production because of doing some good things on all three sides of the ball.”
