Ah, my favorite topic to never let go of: is USC football good or not? Even after four years of following them, this team still never ceases to surprise me. Each and every week, you never know what you’re going to get of the Trojans, and every week, you could come to a different conclusion. It feels like this team does a complete 360 midgame. 

But as of late, things have taken a turn for the horrible as USC now sits at 3-4 and an abysmal 1-4 in the Big Ten conference after back-to-back-to-back losses. This led to alarm bells like never before from those following USC, as this was the first time in Head Coach Lincoln Riley’s time in Southern California that he had had a losing record.

As has been widely stated, the Trojans have been oh, so close in every one of their four losses. In all four games, they had the lead in the fourth quarter and in all four games, they gave up a game-winning score with a minute to go or less to lose the game. It’s honestly quite amazing how they keep topping themselves every week with another last-minute loss. It’s like a car crash you know is about to happen, but you can’t drag your eyes away in case you miss it.

Daily headlines, sent straight to your inbox.

Subscribe to our newsletter to keep up with the latest at and around USC.

This team miraculously has found a way to lose time and time again this season, even dating back to the end of last season. But should we not keep expecting more from these Trojans, or do they just keep getting unlucky?

As some people like Joel Klatt keep pointing out, this team has been in every game, and they are close to winning. And on this note, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree with Riley, who likes to keep pointing out over and over, this team is just a handful of plays away from being undefeated.

Now, it’s ridiculous to say USC is “only a few plays from being undefeated.” If the Trojans were truly a College Football Playoff-level team, then these games wouldn’t keep happening. It’s not a mark of a good team to blow the lead consistently in the fourth quarter and lose on game-winning plays; it’s the mark of a bad one.

But thinking repeatedly about what Klatt and Riley are saying, there is some merit to their overall point. At the end of the day, this USC team isn’t one of the worst we’ve seen; they’re just not ready yet. If you expect the Trojans to turn this current season around and at least win out, you’re very much mistaken. But they can still lay the groundwork for next season.

As I said, though, it’s complicated because when you watch this team, it doesn’t look like a CFP-level team. A good team learns from its mistakes, improves on them next week and doesn’t fall victim to the same loss as USC has done.

So, where does USC go from here? Should USC lose all faith in Riley and just start from scratch and fire him after this year?

No, that would be a big mistake. As I outlined in this column before the season even started, it’s ridiculous to have thought this season was the year the Trojans would return among college football’s elite. This season is justly a rebuilding year.

What was really important to see from USC this year was how the new defense under Defensive Coordinator D’Anton Lynn, the progression of the sophomore wide receiver core and if redshirt junior quarterback Miller Moss can be “the guy” under center for USC.

We’ve seen some good points from each of those facets of Riley’s team and some bad points. That’s not to say that Riley should be absolved from all blame. His playcalling in late-game situations has been questionable at best, and his refusal to run the ball is laughable. 

But the rest of the season will be imperative to see if USC can actually improve on all it failed to do in its losses so far. If this defense can stop bending in late-game situations, if Moss can orchestrate a scoring drive when it’s late in a half and avoid egregious interceptions, if Riley can learn to lean on his backfield when USC has the hot hand — then maybe, just maybe, I can start to get excited about USC football.

This team seems to have the talent to be a great team. The rest of the season can tell us if this team will be deserving of CFP shouts come this time next season. This year is already gone, but maybe USC football can give some much-deserved hope to all of the Trojan faithful; it just takes some patience.

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