Program on track at USC, wins will come for the Trojans

Only looking at raw stats or blindly glancing at the win-loss record does not tell the whole story for USC. Yes, it is already understood that the Trojans have not achieved anything on the field at a high level for a while now. To only point to the winning percentage over the latest years is wholly incomplete.

Even looking at coach Lincoln Riley's tenure, the certain narrative of the program being at or near a disaster is completely overblown. While the results do have to come this season, that can be true while also acknowledging that things are looking better and that this staff is doing everything within their control to improve on some of the recent shortcomings.

If criticizing some of the early years in Troy, within reason, there is plenty to offer a fair evaluation over regarding areas that the Trojans failed to meet expectations in. The past is not destiny, however.

Although there are aspects that needed to be corrected and that the program will continue to need to strive to improve, there are more reasons to like what is taking place within the coach Riley team.

Entering into the 2025 season, it is, of course, on the board that USC will not have a good year. That could end up looking like another season in which the team battles to be higher than .500 again. That would, naturally, frustrate a fan base that is already stretched in terms of the limits of its patience.

Important process remains at forefront for USC

Looking too far ahead is not something that the Trojans can focus on, however. What is done during the summer ends up showing up come the fall. For USC, the efforts continue to be about improving and going about every day with the right approach.

It is possible that the reward will not immediately manifest itself in terms of wins. This is a difficult Big Ten conference that has teams that can always find a way to sneak a win for themselves.

In the event that losses end up telling more of the story, the momentum and pendulum are bound to swing the other way, sooner or later.