There comes a time in every team’s season when fans realize their team is beatable and not as good as they had dreamed it’d be. That moment came for USC fans in South Bend, Indiana last Saturday night.

There were dreams of these Trojans (6-1, 4-0 Pac-12) going undefeated and making the College Football Playoff for the first time with their knights in shining armor, Head Coach Lincoln Riley and junior quarterback Caleb Williams gloriously leading them to said promised land. But after the 48-20 loss, uproar came from USC fans while laughing and shared celebration came from just about everyone else in the country.

I understand both sides. USC has garnered the reputation that it should always be the best, causing hatred from those on the outside looking in and overblown expectations from its dedicated followers.

But to the fans and those praying on the Trojans’ downfall, put down your pitchforks and do some much-needed breathing exercises. As far as the unbeaten season, that was never really attainable. In the last 20 seasons, only eight teams have done it, and considering how formidable the Pac-12 is this season, it would have been even tougher.

Of those eight undefeated teams, 2019 LSU, 2010 Auburn and 2009 Alabama defeated the most ranked teams (four) in the regular season. For USC to have gone undefeated, it would have had to beat a whopping five ranked teams in a six-week span.

Should the Trojans have put up a better fight against one of their oldest rivals? Of course, they should have. I get it. I was in South Bend for the trouncing Notre Dame (6-2) gave USC and how lifeless the team looked on the field. But let’s put the game into perspective.

USC has not won in South Bend in 12 years; it’s not an easy environment to get a win in. Also, that Notre Dame defense that stifled USC’s high-flying offense all night is one of the best in the entire country. They are within the top 20 teams in the country in terms of total defense, scoring defense and turnovers forced. And let’s not forget the Fighting Irish are also third and fourth in passing and red zone defense, respectively.

This was a dominant Notre Dame defense with a rowdy packed stadium behind them, and now it seems as if USC fans think the world is crashing down. It’s not. There’s still lots of football left to play.

Listen, I’m not some Riley apologist; I’ve had my fair share of criticism of him in earlier editions of this column — the whole Luca Evans fiasco and Riley’s questionable game management. But it’s almost out of hand how quickly everyone is turning.

The road ahead isn’t easy, but USC has plenty of winnable games ahead. Utah (5-1, 2-1), has had USC’s number as of late, and will likely be without senior quarterback Cam Rising. The Utes’ defense is elite, but their offense is tied 109 out of 130 teams in terms of points per game. If USC can get ahead by two scores at any point, it can secure that victory.

The Trojans will take on a pair of old Pac-12 rivals in UCLA (4-2, 1-2) and UC Berkeley (3-4, 1-3), which won’t be easy matchups by any means (well, maybe Cal), but they should be taken care of. Then they have the gauntlet that is hosting Washington (6-0, 3-0) and going up to Oregon (5-1, 2-1).

But the good news is, if the Trojans can take care of business with UCLA, Cal and Utah, they can afford to split the games between the Huskies and Ducks. If they split and the tiebreakers fall their way, the Trojans can still end up in Vegas for the Pac-12 Championship.

Now, I may be falling into the same trap that Trojanites did when they so clearly saw an undefeated season ripped away from them. This is true, but even if you finish with a two-loss season, is that really a disappointment? For a school like USC, potentially. Nonetheless, it’s still important to anticipate a few hiccups along the way; nothing in college football is easy. USC football is still a really good team, and there’s still plenty of season left to prove that.

Stefano Fendrich is a junior writing about his opinions on some of USC sports’ biggest debates in his column, “The Great Debate,” which runs every other Friday. He is also a sports editor at the Daily Trojan.