Excitement about USC football, which was missing during the Clay Helton era save for one and a half seasons when Sam Darnold rode to the rescue, is back.
USC fans dreaded the arrival of the 2020 and 2021 seasons, because it was clear Helton needed to be fired. Until he was, Trojan football was a burden and a reminder of what had gone wrong at Heritage Hall. USC football was not something to look forward to.
That’s over. That’s done. That’s in the past.
The Trojans are now about to begin a new era of glory and success and national relevance … or at least, that is the obvious expectation under Lincoln Riley.
Because there is so much passion and enthusiasm flowing through the USC fan base right now, we need to offer one simple but important reminder about this game against Rice: Don’t assign too much meaning to this game. It’s all about getting a win, leading into Stanford in Week 2, and being healthy. That’s it.
We made our point in greater detail with Mark Rogers at The Voice of College Football.
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