Program turnaround important for USC after years of not hitting the mark

Although there is an uptick in people in the media who view USC as a preseason top 25 team, the Trojans place as a ranked team at this point of the year is far from universal. This is something that does not ultimately matter too much. After all, with little true information to go off, opinions are guesses at best at the moment.

At the end of the day, it will be up to USC to prove those expressing an opinion either right or wrong through their results on the field.

Still, not seeing USC as a consensus top 25 team does show the extent to which the respect for the program has dropped. Earlier years of the program always have the Trojans comfortably in the top 10 heading into the fall.

Now, coach Lincoln Riley faces the daunting task of needing to reestablish credibility when it comes to the outlook of the Trojans. Again, this can only ever be truly accomplished by winning when it matters.

Moving forward, however, if coach Riley is going to remain and be successful in Los Angeles, he will need to continue to do what is needed to shape the program into one that is respected again.

Looking forward to USC's playoff potential in the future

Particularly with the unknown nature of what the future of the College Football Playoff system will look like, the Trojans will need to increase their reputation in the eyes of other fan bases. While it should not be the case, human nature makes it so that teams with close resumes will often have other aspects that do not have to do with the results on the field themselves that become the deciding factors.

Perhaps not for 2025, but in the future years to come, USC will need to make the CFP on a regular basis. The turnaround will also need to come with an enhanced current reputation of the program in order to do so.