Times of Troy: Is this the year Lincoln Riley has a good defense at USC?

['Staff Writer', 'Ryan Kartje Is The Usc Beat Writer At The Los Angeles Times. He Joined The Times After Six Years With The Southern California News Group. A Michigan Native', 'University Of Michigan Graduate', 'Kartje Previously Wrote For Fox Sports Wisconsin', 'The Bloomington', 'Ind.'] News from California, across the nation and world - Los Angeles Times 2026-08-10 00:00:00

Welcome back to the Times of Troy newsletter, where we are just deep enough into USC’s fall football camp to ask the same question we ask every year around this time:Might this be the year that Lincoln Riley actually fields a good defense at USC? Lynn took the disaster that was USC’s defense under Alex Grinch and turned it into a respectable outfit, albeit one with limitations. And that the influx of five-star talent on USC’s defense should be too. But while all that might seem like reason to believe USC’s defense won’t be better in 2026, I actually think there are more such reasons than in recent years. AdvertisementThe truth is there’s no real way of knowing how USC’s defense will look when it rolls out later this month.