Add The California Post on Google If anyone knows what the standard at USC looks like it’s Matt Leinart.
He helped create it with two national championships, a Heisman trophy, Rose Bowl victories, and reign of dominance at the Coliseum that few programs have matched.
More than two decades later, the former USC quarterback believes Lincoln Riley has reached the point in his tenure where progress alone is no longer enough.
In year five, he needs to reach the College Football Playoff.
“Look, I think you’ve got to get to the playoff,” Leinart told the California Post exclusively during a DraftKings Gameday event in Los Angeles. “That’s the goal, right? This is Year 5, and I think Lincoln knows that.”
Riley arrived at USC in 2022 with expectations as enormous as his contract and nearly delivered immediately, winning 11 games and reaching the Pac-12 Championship Game in his debut season.
But the Trojans have yet to come close to that inaugural success in the three years since and haven’t reached the College Football Playoff during Riley’s first four seasons in Los Angeles.
That needs to change in 2026 as the No. 14-ranked Trojans have arguably their most talented roster, continuity at quarterback, and the number one recruiting class for the first time in Riley’s tenure.
“I think the playoffs are realistic,” Leinart said. “I think that’s an expectation.”
Leinart isn’t setting that bar merely because the interlocking SC demands it. He sees a roster capable of reaching it.
“There’s a lot of talent on this team,” Leinart said. “There’s a lot of depth on this team. They’ve got a veteran quarterback. They’ve got a great running game. They’ve got a lot of youth on the outside, but a lot of talented guys.”
Leinart is right. And if this were 2022 and USC were back in the old version of the Pac-12 Conference, the College Football Playoff would be much more attainable.
The problem is the Trojans are in the Big 10 now, the best conference in all of college football and home to the last three national champions.
After opening the season 3-0 with victories over San Jose State, Fresno State, and Louisiana, the dress rehearsal is now over. USC’s conference schedule begins at Rutgers next weekend and they have to navigate a minefield that includes No. 6 Oregon on Sept. 26, No. 19 Washington, No. 16 Penn State on Oct. 10. No. 1 Ohio State on Halloween, reigning national champion and No. 5 ranked Indiana on Nov. 4 and games against Wisconsin, Maryland, and rivals UCLA at the Rose Bowl.
That’s a gauntlet with very few soft landings.
“I know the schedule is hard, but that’s playing football in the Big Ten,” Leinart said. “It’s tough. It’s a tough schedule.”
Navigating a schedule that features five top-20 teams is going to be difficult for the Trojans. Going 3-2 against them would be considered a success. The problem is it might not get them into the College Football Playoff.
Thankfully for Riley and the Trojans, that argument can be settled on the field as those five games can be seen as a measuring stick for where the Trojans are as a program.
USC doesn’t have to speculate about whether it belongs among college football’s elite. Oregon, Penn State, Ohio State and Indiana will provide the answers themselves.
Leinart thinks if they go 3-2 against those top-20 ranked opponents and win every other game on their schedule, it should be enough to get into the playoff.
“I think you’ve got to be 10-2 out of the Big Ten to be in the College Football Playoff,” Leinart said.“You’ve got to win the games you’re supposed to, and then you’ve got to go out there against teams like Oregon and Ohio State and prove that you belong in that conversation,” Leinart said.
“And that’s the opportunity that they have.”
While Leinart doesn’t want to hear any excuses if the Trojans don’t make it to the College Football Playoff this season, he also didn’t say Riley should be fired if he misses it.
In fact, he pointed to the number of freshman in the two-deep and believes the program as a lot of young talent worth building around regardless of how this season plays out.
It’s year five for Lincoln Riley and when you’re the head coach of USC, Leinart knows better than anyone that eventually potential has to transition into wins on the field and playing for national championships.
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