USC is officially 1-0! On Saturday, the Trojans opened up their 2026 campaign with a 42-26 victory over San Jose State at the Coliseum.
The game also marked the debut of new USC defensive coordinator Gary Patterson. Recently, head coach Lincoln Riley discussed coaching with Patterson for the first time.
“It was fun to be on the headsets and see how he calls a game,” Riley said of Patterson. “We did a great job for three quarters. I know he’s pissed right now about the fourth quarter, as you can imagine, because the guy’s standards are so high. That’s the reality for our defense.
“Our defense brought the team together in the locker room; the coaches didn’t have to say anything. Jide [Abasiri], Des [Stephens] and some of our other leaders let the guys
know that we can’t take our foot off the gas. No matter who’s on the field or what the situation is, we have a standard defensively, and that doesn’t change. When guys play the way they did for three quarters, you want to hand it off to the next group and then go finish the deal.
“The way our starters played, that deserved to be a single-digit score game. We have to get better there because we’re going to need those guys to come along quickly, especially just in terms of our mentality.”
Based on Riley’s comments, it certainly seems as though the coaches were not pleased with USC’s performance in the fourth quarter. While the Trojans can get away with only playing well for three quarters against lower-level competition the likes of San Jose State, they will not be able to afford doing such in their more difficult games later in the season.
Riley, Patterson, and the Trojans are back in action on Friday when USC hosts Fresno State at the Coliseum. Kickoff is set for 6:00 p.m. Pacific time on Fox.
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This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Lincoln Riley talks defensive coordinator Gary Patterson’s USC debut
