NIL deals were a much larger factor in the following cycle, and USC struggled to keep up, which is why Riley joked USC was "going to a gun fight with a toy sword." The Trojans dropped to the No ...

During the admission, Riley compared USC football’s NIL program to carrying a “toy sword” into a gun fight.” “You don’t want to go to a gun fight with a knife,” Riley said.

At the end of the program, Lee Corso picked USC, as he is to do, and donned the Trojan gear for a playful sword fight with Kirk Herbstreit. Then things got real. Kinda.

The USC football team is scheduled to open its season in Las Vegas against Coach Brian Kelly’s LSU football team on Sunday, September 1. The game is a chance to show how far Coach Lincoln Riley ...