When it comes to the brouhaha over USC’s attendance at its season opener, Lincoln Riley has entered the chat.
And the Trojans coach didn’t agree with much of what was being said elsewhere.
“Yeah, I mean, listen, this is USC, right?” Riley said Tuesday in his first public comments since an announced crowd of only 51,144 showed up Saturday at the Coliseum.
“People are going to pay attention, people are going to have an opinion, it’s part of being a blueblood school. I don’t buy into the false narrative – I think that comes from a lot of people that don’t follow our program and most of those who have never set foot in the Coliseum.”
USC’s crowd for its 42-26 victory over San Jose State was its smallest since late in the 2018 season. It was undoubtedly impacted by playing an opponent from the Mountain West Conference at noon amid 94-degree conditions at kickoff.
A day later, the school released a statement acknowledging all the factors that hindered the turnout, adding “we know the competitive advantage an electric Coliseum atmosphere can provide our program. We thank our fans who showed up Saturday and look forward to seeing increased attendance the rest of the season.”
California coach Tosh Lupoi became the latest to weigh in on the situation Tuesday, suggesting that he expected better turnout for a team based in one of the nation’s largest cities.
“I don’t mean this by any disrespect to anybody,” Lupoi told reporters, “but to turn on the TV to see that environment in Los Angeles, that’s disheartening to see what little amount of individuals came out to support. I can guarantee that’s a completely different environment here.”
Lupoi’s Golden Bears will host UCLA on Saturday at Memorial Stadium in the season opener for both teams.
Riley pointed to the buzz generated by his success at the Coliseum, where the Trojans have gone 7-0 in 2022, 4-3 in 2023, 4-2 in 2024 and 7-0 in 2025 before opening this season with a victory over the Spartans.
“The reality is,” Riley said, “during my years here attendance has gone up every single year here, as has our play in the Coliseum, including running the table last year in front of a lot of epic atmospheres and I expect that to happen again this year.”
