Lincoln Riley explains the need for USC to have a killer instinct

USC has started the season with three straight blowout wins, with the offense averaging 59.3 yards per game. And coach Lincoln Riley is beginning to see a killer instinct emerge.

In fact, he’s been waiting to debut it.

“The team has that killer instinct to be, to reach its potential,” Riley said. “We’re getting ready to go on the road here a lot here in the next several weeks, and to go on the road and win you’ve got to be a killer. You do. That’s just part of it.”

USC found that out the hard way last season, when it saw its chances at a College Football Playoff berth dissipate because it wasn’t able to put teams away.

The Trojans tripped up on the road at Utah in a 43-42 thriller, then lost neutral-site games in the Pac-12 Championship Game and the Cotton Bowl in reasonably similar fashion.

Riley doesn’t know if last year’s team lacked a killer instinct, preferring not to go down that road.

“I hate to get into all the comparisons,” Riley said. “The team last year was its own team. That team won a bunch of games and did something pretty impressive in and around here. I’d like to kind of leave that in the past.”

But the reality is this year’s USC team has the same lofty goals. Moreover, the Trojans know exactly what not having a killer instinct can lead to.

Let teams stick around, particularly good ones, especially on the road, and you can run into trouble in a hurry.

USC has three tough road games coming up in the next four outings: at Arizona State, at No. 18 Colorado and No. 9 Notre Dame. That stretch alone won’t decide the season, but it could shape the course of it.

“The new challenges are coming up for us,” Riley said. “I’m excited about how we’re progressing, but we’ve got to keep doing it and keep getting ready for these challenges. But I believe in this group and I believe we will be.”

USC will take on Arizona State on Sept. 23, after the team gets a bye week. USC has an early bye after beginning the season in Week 0.

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