Lincoln Riley seen scouting mega priority USC target at St. John Bosco-Mater Dei game

USC Football Head Coach Lincoln Riley and Defensive Passing Game Coordinator Donte Williams flew out to the Mater Dei versus St. John Bosco high school football game on Friday to scout future Trojans:

It was an incredible sight to see, as it's unlikely that too many athletes could turn down a school that sends two of the best recruiters in America to check out how things are going at the biggest rivalry game in high school football. Most notably, Riley was spotted taking a close look at five-star Edge Matayo Uiagalelei, who of course was playing for Bosco:

That's important, and not just because he's the No. 28 player in the entire nation (all recruiting rankings and ratings in article are as of 247Sports). It's also important for other reasons, such as the fact that four and five-star front edge players at his size (6-5, 265 pounds) don't grow on trees out on the west coast. For every one that there is, SC needs to pounce and make sure they land them.

Also, the Trojans can't have what happened the last time a five-star Uiagalelei was set to sign with a college. DJ Uiagalelei, Matayo's brother and of course the Clemson starting QB, exposed that USC wasn't recruiting him heavily for reasons nobody knows.

In an interview after the former five-star QB signed with Clemson, he said that he grew up a USC fan, which made the decision not to recruit him heavily make even less sense. He said he wears No. 5 for Reggie Bush, yet...USC's actions have led to him wearing No. 5 for Clemson...

Notably in that interview, he talked about how his "whole family are USC fans." If this is true, Matayo is another Uiagalelei brother who should be a slam dunk for USC in getting his commitment. They can't let what happened with DJ happen again. Especially when their father, Dave, has talked about how Clemson hasn't recruited Matayo as heavily as expected.

It sounded eerily similar to how USC Football missed out on Matayo Uiagalelei's brother, DJ.

Therefore, each of the previous two USC Football head coaches in Lincoln Riley and Donte Williams being at Matayo Uiagalelei's big game is huge. They need to be around him as much as possible. And as for the USC side of things, they saw a great player despite Matayo's Braves losing.

Matayo had multiple tackles for loss and caught a touchdown pass at tight end--which was the only touchdown of the game for his squad. The No. 4 Edge in America proved his worth under the brightest lights, and in front of the most important coaches. Riley knew he would, which is why he needed to be there to see it, and make sure Matayo understands the level of interest that USC has in the No. 4 player in Cali.