Competing with Game 1 of the World Series, Lakers basketball, highly touted high school football matchups and concerts for viewership isn’t easy. 

For USC (3-4, 1-4 Big Ten), while currently riding a three-game skid and repeatedly fading late in close battles, Friday night against struggling Rutgers (4-3, 1-3) should be an interesting spectacle.

The Trojans have held a fourth-quarter lead in every matchup this season. Nonetheless, the team has faltered when it has mattered most, especially on the road. While one might’ve expected Head Coach Lincoln Riley to make adjustments at this point in the year, potentially at the quarterback position, the leader has made it clear that he’d like to stick with his guns.

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When asked whether redshirt junior quarterback Miller Moss would remain the starter going forward, Riley kept it short and sweet.

“Of course,” Riley said at practice Monday, “100%.”

While USC’s issues have extended beyond Moss’ six interceptions in the last five games and his inability to consistently target receivers downfield for large gains, the 22-year-old has naturally been the center of attention in an offense that can’t quite seal the deal.

Combine the turnovers with a fragile offensive line, key injuries and a pass-heavy offense not meeting expectations, and all of a sudden, you’ve gone from College Football Playoff contender to fiending for bowl eligibility.

“We’ve had a myriad of different issues,” Riley said. “We’ve had some opportunities to separate in several of these games, and we haven’t.”

While criticizing Moss appears to be the automatic safety valve for fans, Riley’s total reliance on his passing offense — despite owning a sound, proven backfield — has put the first-year starting quarterback under a microscope.

The Trojans have the second-most passing attempts in the FBS with 297 despite ranking 22nd in passing yards per game with 288.6. Riley has a natural pass-first approach, but it simply isn’t getting the job done this season. 

Moss slung the ball a whopping 50 times at Maryland (4-3, 1-3) and efficiently completed 68% of his passes for 336 yards for a solid performance. But stats alone can never tell the full story, as the offense’s poor clock management and ineffective fourth-quarter drives ultimately overshadowed any positive takeaways from the East Coast trip.

“We did some good things offensively, put ourselves in a position to win with a two-score lead in the fourth quarter, and didn’t figure out a way to get it done,” Moss said. 

Calls for a quarterback change can be attributed to last year’s offense having a dual-threat gunslinger in Caleb Williams, who possessed the ability to win games himself, but also an NFL-caliber running back tandem in MarShawn Lloyd and Austin Jones, who each averaged over five yards per carry.

Moss, like Williams, has a stout tailback core and has proven he can make reads in the air, but he can’t run the ball himself. Moss has compiled -30 rushing yards on 19 attempts, forcing him to either throw or get sacked on many given plays, especially with an inconsistent offensive line in front of him.

Redshirt sophomore backup quarterback Jayden Maiava owns the flashy running ability that Moss lacks, but Riley doesn’t appear to be lenient with benching Moss just yet.

On the defensive side, USC’s pass rush has been quiet. Senior linebacker Eric Gentry’s absence, in particular, has stunted the unit’s production, as the Trojans rank dead-last in the Big Ten with a measly eight sacks on the year.

“We need to make big-time plays in big-time moments,” said Defensive Coordinator D’Anton Lynn at practice Tuesday. “You learn from every game.”

Rutgers can relate to USC on some level. The Scarlet Knights started strong with four wins to begin the year but are also riding a three-game losing streak heading into Week 9.

Head Coach Greg Schiano’s team is centered around senior running back Kyle Monangai, who ranks second in rushing yards in the Big Ten with 845 and 10 touchdowns. Allowing over 100 rush yards per game, the Trojans will have to focus on stopping Monangai amid a down year for their run defense.

Under center, senior quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis will look to regroup after a string of mixed results lately. Against UCLA (2-5, 1-4), the Scarlet Knights’ offense started slow and fell just short in the fourth quarter, despite Kaliakmanis throwing for nearly 300 yards.

Coming off a short week, USC will host Rutgers on Friday at 8 p.m. at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.