EUGENE, Ore. — The last time he made it here, to the doorstep of the College Football Playoff, Lincoln Riley could only watch as USC’s hopes slipped away with a single hamstring pull. Without its Heisman-winning quarterback healthy, USC fell painfully short, forced to wonder what could have been.
It would take Riley nearly three years — and plenty of ups and downs — to return to that same place, only this time to have the door slammed shut by No. 7 Oregon in a 42-27 loss that all but eliminated the Trojans’ hopes of a first-ever playoff invite.