"Fraud gets exposed again": Calls mount for Lincoln Riley's firing from fans after Notre Dame demolishes USC 34-24 in historic rivalry clash

Lincoln Riley and the USC Trojans had another disappointing outing on Saturday. They lost their last scheduled game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in a historic clash. Following a disappointing 34-24 final score, it looks like the USC coach's future with the program is in trouble.

After the game, Lincoln Riley found himself on the hot seat once again. Fans on social media demanded that the USC Trojans fire him from his position and bring in a suitable replacement.

Lincoln Riley's team took an early lead in the first quarter after Jayden Maiava found Lake McRee with a 10-yard touchdown pass. Jeremiyah Love's rushing touchdown leveled the playing field for Notre Dame. At the end of the first half, Marcus Freeman's team had a one-point lead over USC (14-13).

The back-and-forth competition continued between both teams after halftime. Unfortunately, despite their best efforts, Notre Dame had better offensive momentum. Quarterback CJ Carr sealed the victory for his team with a rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter.

He ended the night completing 16 of the 26 passes he attempted for 136 yards and two total touchdowns. On the other hand, Jayden Maiava completed 22 of the 42 passes for 328 yards and two passing touchdowns.

With his loss, Riley and his team are now 5-2 this season. Their first loss came at the hands of the Illinois Fighting Illini last month.

Lincoln Riley expresses disappointment after losing to Notre Dame

In the post-game press conference, Lincoln Riley admitted that they didn't play well against Notre Dame. He owned up to the mistakes they made on the field that cost them the game.

The USC coach also stated that they will work on improving themselves in the upcoming bye week to go on and win the rest of the games this season.

"We have to own it. We just flat out didn't play good enough tonight against a good team on the road and had some missed opportunities that makes you sick right now," Riley said. "So we'll own it. Obviously get into this bye week and then jump back into the Big Ten conference where we worked our a** off to ourselves in a great position like we are now.

"That will be the challenge for this team is to handle this, to learn from it. And we flat out have to be better. ... We'll get on the bye week, get some work in, obivously get some of these guys back healthy and get ready for the stretch run."

The USC Trojans are next scheduled to take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Nov.1.

About the author

Priyam is a College Sports content executive at Sportskeeda with a master's in Advertising and Marketing Management and over two years of experience as a writer. When it comes to reporting, Priyam believes doing a technical deep dive is one of his biggest strengths and he loves to dissect plays on the field and factor out the strengths/weaknesses of players.

A fan of the Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Priyam sees Nick Saban as the greatest coach of all time. He is also rooting for Alabama quarterback Jalen Milore after following his progress over the years. The Michigan Wolverines football team is another of his favorite programs and it will be interesting to see how both these teams perform in new coaching eras.

When he’s not reporting, Priyam is usually at the gym or indulging in music. He has been a guitarist and a drummer for the past 17 years and finds his time of peace when playing music.

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Edited by Priyam Hazarika