Lincoln Riley confirms who will be playing for USC in Alamo Bowl

After Monday afternoon practice at Howard Jones Field. USC coach Lincoln Riley addressed the media for the first time since the Trojans appeared victory over crosstown rival UCLA November 29.

USC (9-3), ranked No. 16 in the AP poll, prepares to play Texas Christian (9-4) Dec. 30 in the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio. USC finished its second season in the Big Ten with a 7-2 record and won four of its final five games, with its only setback during that span being a 42-27 loss to Oregon, which ranks fifth in the College Football Playoff.

Riley announced that security Kamari Ramseyreceivers Snake live And Ja'Coby Lanetight end Lake Makri and midfielder Eric Gentry will not play in the Alamo Bowl. Lane declared for the NFL Draft on Monday.

“Anthony Lucas And Bishop Fitzgerald I want to play in the game, but I have some injuries and I’m trying to get back… we’ll see how it goes,” Riley said.Kilian O'Connor And Elijah Page And Jakeem Stewart “Everyone has had surgery and will be ready to go.”

When asked about signing No. 1 recruiting class for 2026Riley said: “It was a great day. We've been trying to focus on building the team for next year. The number of guys we've signed is a big part of that and as we start to look to the future… half our day, maybe even more, is focused on next year and beyond. In the meantime, obviously, preparing for this cup game. There's been a lot of hard work to add talent and people who care about this place and start to put the team together for next year, it's been exciting here in these last few weeks.”

Riley has a 35-27 record in four seasons at USC and is looking to improve his record to 3-1. He led the Trojans to victories in the 2023 Holiday Bowl and 2024 Las Vegas Bowl.

Riley watched the CIF State Open Division game between Santa Margarita (coached by former Trojans quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Carson Palmer) and De La Salle on Saturday and was impressed with the play of USC's Trent Mosley, who had 11 catches for 183 yards, two touchdowns and a rushing touchdown in the Eagles' 47-13 win.

“He was someone we targeted from the beginning,” Riley said. “I thought he was very impressive and that was important. He's one of the best receivers in the country. He proved it and just played like crazy. They have a great family and he's a really smart kid.”

Asked what advice he gives to players deciding what to do next in their careers, Riley replied: “Yeah, it's a big decision. Guys who make the right decision, no matter what it is, have an advantage for the rest of their lives. So a bad decision can have disastrous consequences. That's the world we all live in. I'm just trying to tell them about their options. I don't like telling guys you should do this or you shouldn't do that. You can read more about that here. This option, that's how it's going to be. look, that's what you need to consider. Sometimes the decision one way or the other is pretty clear, sometimes it's not, I try to give them as much advice as possible.”

Given that USC will be losing quite a few players who have been key contributors throughout the season, Riley isn't ruling out the possibility of younger players seeing action against TCU.

“There will be guys all over the place that will have opportunities,” Riley said. “All sides of the ball, all position groups, maybe these are some of the guys that you've seen a little bit throughout the season, and in some cases you'll see guys get some burn in this game that haven't played at all or very little. Bowl games are great, but days like this are the most valuable part of it because we're just pouring reps into all of these guys, it's very competitive, and the energy level is just different. All of these guys feel like it's their time.”

Riley acknowledged that he and his staff had to make difficult decisions based on the incoming freshmen, most of whom enroll in the spring.

“It's a huge number of people that will be here, and that's important,” he said. “We've had to make a number of squad decisions over the last couple of weeks. We've already got a large number of players signed and some of the decisions we've had to make have been based on knowing what we've got and when you sign as many players as we have, you're going to have to make some tough decisions.”