USC coach Lincoln Riley lost his third consecutive rivalry game 34-24 to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in Week 8 action. The loss came just a week after the Trojans had dominated the Michigan Wolverines to rise to No. 20 in the AP Top 25 Poll and dropped USC to a 5-2 record this season. The loss was charecterized by questionable play calling by Riley who tried a trick play with wide receiver Makai Lemon in the fourth quarter with the Trojans chasing the game. Riley, who has distinguished himself as a quarterback guru, took the ball out of quarterback Jayden Maiava's hands and when Lemon tried to throw it, he fumbled it and the Fighting Irish secured the turnover and went on to score. During his postgame news conference, the polarizing USC coach admitted to his play calling mistake involving his talented quarterback, with the game on the line despite the weather conditions. “It’s a stupid call,” Lincoln Riley said. “Stupid call. They were a little more of a factor in the second half. I mean, obviously, I think everybody could see that. "And so you still gotta be able to run the ball, to hang on to the ball, finish plays. I mean, the conditions are what they are at the end of the day. We all got to play in them. And so it’s just the hand that we were all dealt tonight.”Lincoln Riley challenges team to respond to lossDespite the loss to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the USC Trojans have only lost one Big Ten game this season. During his postgame news conference, Lincoln Riley challenged his team to respond to the disappointing defeat. “The opportunities we have upcoming, we got no time to hold our heads,” Lincoln Riley said. “We got a good team in there, I know that have a good team in there. "We'll own it, get into this bye week and then jump back into the Big 10 conference, where we've worked our ass off and put ourselves in a great position like we are now. That'll be the challenge of this team, is to handle this, to learn from it. And we just we flat out have to be better. ”Lincoln Riley's team only has one game remaining against a ranked opponent, the No. 6 Oregon Ducks before the season ends, giving the Trojans their best chance of reachingh the Big Ten championship game and clinching a playoff spot.