Glimpses of national contender need to be seen at USC in 2025

The cost of progress can often be taking a few steps back. Everyone, of course, wants to win and be successful all the time. For USC, there have been many seasons of rough sledding as of late.

Part of the benefit of not having the types of years that a blue blood should have, however, is the ability to reference eras in which there was a lot of winning and the ability to bounce back in relatively short order compared to other programs.

The standard in focus needs to always be to win a national championship. That is not to say, though, that USC will win the natty this year or even make the College Football Playoffs. The Trojans, at best, could be viewed as a dark horse candidate to make the CFP.

Just because the past seasons have not hit the mark does not mean that the true objective can or should be forgotten. The sport and competition take place, after all, with the ultimate prize in mind.

Getting there and the process that it takes to put out a consistent winning team are important.

Even during years in which a team can do well, sometimes the manner in which they go about their business is too short-term in terms of the approach and mentality.

Building a strong contender at USC

What is happening now in Troy speaks to a coach who has learned from some of his more recent mistakes. Coach Riley is now looking to build a true cohesive roster that does have the ability to match up with the Ohio States and Texas squads of the world.

It has not always looked pretty, and there has been a lot of venting and buildup of anxiety over the Trojan program from some of the past performances. Looking forward to the season to come, the building blocks of a true national contender should begin to show themselves from this USC team.