STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — The Trojan Marching Band was deep in the belly of Beaver Stadium, far from the sky-grazing perch that they were relegated to during the game.
Read more Santa Anita consensus picks for Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026
The sounds of brass and drums pounded the air, signaling the No. 19 USC football team (6-1 overall, 3-1 Big Ten) to rush to the edges of the stadium’s away team compound and climb the chain-link fence. Receiver Trent Mosley thrust USC’s sword into the air.
But it wasn’t a player who was celebrating the hardest inside the locker room.
“Maybe Coach Riley,” Mosley said with a smile. “Everybody was (celebrating).”
A week after the Coliseum’s USC crowd was chanting to fire him during the Washington game, USC head coach Lincoln Riley clapped back with a 31-23 win over Penn State, handing the Nittany Lions their second straight White Out game loss.
Oregon beat Penn State, 30-24, last season.
“I don’t listen to anything the fans chant,” Riley said, before quickly adding:
“I bet they’re chanting something different now, back in LA.”
Riley called it one of his “favorite wins as a head coach, no question” because of the game atmosphere, the complete team effort and the spark that it could potentially give USC.
The Trojans will need the momentum to push through a tough second half of the season against teams like No. 5 Ohio State, No. 7 Indiana and No. 21 UCLA — which upset Oregon on Saturday night.
The early-season moxie that Riley exuded as he took snaps during fall training camp and cracked jokes in press conferences as USC dominated its nonconference opponents seems to have returned.
His competitive fire, however, has always been there. It didn’t take a White Out to bring it out of him.
“It didn’t. Ask any of these dudes,” Riley said, gesturing to quarterback Jayden Maiava and Luke Wafle in the postgame press conference. “I got a lot of problems, but being competitive ain’t one of them.”
Read more Rams know a disciplined A-game is needed versus Josh Allen and the Bills
USC has now won both of its road games after beating Rutgers in Piscataway in Week 3. The Trojans struggled on the road last season, going 2-3, and performed even worse in the 2024 season with a 1-4 record in away games.
This season, USC started a new tradition of adding a small plaque themed after each road win to the new Bloom Football Performance Center. A new one will be on the wall when the Trojans return to campus.
Who will place it on the wall will be a difficult decision. It could be Vlad Dyakanov, who made his first college start at left tackle and performed like a veteran. Or it could be one of the defensive players who helped the Trojans hold Penn State to a pair of field goals in the second half.
Riley himself could be a justifiable choice. He out-coached Penn State head coach Matt Campbell as well as a defense coached by former USC defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn.
He also probably gave himself extra job security. “Hot seat” conversations ramped up significantly after the Trojans’ loss to No. 13 Oregon and a narrow, four-point win over unranked Washington.
“I’ve only been a head coach at two schools,” Riley said. “They’ve both been blue bloods. Blue bloods are unbelievable.
“The advantages far outweigh the disadvantages, but the disadvantage of the blue bloods is the outside noise is always going to be way over the top, no matter what’s happening. Your ability to deal with that as a coach, and then your team, is critical if you want to have success in these jobs.”
Read more UCLA football celebrates, resets after win at Oregon