It’s been a whirlwind month and a half for USC football. 

From opening the season with a ranked win against an SEC powerhouse to climbing as high as No. 11 in the Associated Press poll to now having lost three of four Big Ten games on last-minute scores, all eyes are on Head Coach Lincoln Riley’s bunch to see where they go from here.

“I don’t, I don’t like to get too much into the big picture stuff in the middle [of the season],” Riley said after practice Tuesday. “You’re kind of in the trenches right now, and you’re not worried about what happens before, you’re not really focused on what happens after, it’s trying to prepare really well this week and go get a win.”

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USC (3-3, 1-3 Big Ten) had lots of big expectations after week one but now sits in the depths of the Big Ten standings in 15th place. Coming off of perhaps their most heartbreaking loss yet, the Trojans are keen to turn things around and fix some of their late-game problems that have plagued them this season.

To make things worse, USC dealt with devastating injury news on the defensive side of the ball earlier this week. Junior defensive end Anthony Lucas is out for the rest of the season with a “lower extremity” injury Riley said after practice Tuesday. Lucas had the most pressures on the season with 12 — four more than any other USC player.

Potentially even more detrimental to the defense, though, was senior linebacker Eric Gentry’s decision to forgo the rest of the season and redshirt due to “a series of concussions.”

“This decision has not been easy, but after thoughtful consideration and discussions with my family and coaching staff, I know it’s the right choice for my well-being and long-term health,” Gentry wrote on  X Tuesday.

Gentry leads the team in tackles for a loss and sacks, as well as having the second-most solo tackles. Lucas and Gentry’s exits leave the defensive line noticeably thin, especially after junior defensive tackle Bear Alexander decided to sit out the rest of the season and enter the transfer portal.

However, Defensive Coordinator D’Anton Lynn has taken a positive point of view on these roster disruptions as he sees them as opportunities for underclassmen to step up and fill those voids.

“I’m excited for them, it’s been fun to recruit them, it’s been fun to see them this spring, it’s been fun to see him in [training] camp,” Lynn said after practice Wednesday. “They’ve been doing a bunch of good stuff in practice but doing it in games is completely different so it’s exciting.”

Defense aside, the Trojans will have to play a complete four quarters to get the job done in Maryland, something they haven’t done this season. At times, USC has come out firing on all cylinders in the first half, to only drop the ball and look like a completely different team in the second half.

“When you face adversity, you have to lean back on what got you here and what you truly believe in,” said redshirt junior quarterback Miller Moss. “We’ve done a good job so far of that as a team and need to continue to do that to put together a complete week.”

Lucky for the Trojans, they’ll head across the country to College Park to face a Maryland team (3-3, 0-3) that has also struggled mightily in Big Ten play.

The Terrapins have lost their last two games by a combined 41 points and are also looking for a get-back game when USC comes to town. Maryland is led under center by redshirt junior quarterback Billy Edwards Jr., who — similarly to Moss — has finally been granted the mantle of starting quarterback after waiting for three years as the backup.

Edwards Jr. and Moss have posted similar passing numbers so far this season. When looking at the Big Ten passing leaders, they rank within one spot of each other in leaders in passing touchdowns, passing yards and pass attempts. 

It may very well be an all-out duel of gunslingers Saturday afternoon as the Terrapins rank in the bottom three in the Big Ten in both total defense and scoring defense. It’ll be crucial to see if USC can finally assemble that complete start-to-finish performance.

“It all comes down to finishing. I mean that’s the obvious answer but it’s the truth,” Riley said after practice Tuesday. “Hopefully, we can learn from those experiences, go play a really clean game on the road, get some momentum and really be able to sustain it on all three sides.”

The Trojans will kick off against Maryland at 4 p.m. EST Saturday at SECUStadium.