Ohio State game will shape future for Lincoln Riley and USC football

The Big Ten Conference is headed toward a very exciting finish to the season, but that only puts more pressure on Lincoln Riley. The pressure is heating up for the USC Trojans, and if things continue to take a disappointing turn, USC will be in desperate need of change.My hot take of the week is that Week 9 will massively impact the future of the USC Trojans program. If the USC Trojans somehow pull off an upset against the Ohio State Buckeyes, which Lincoln Riley did before during his time with the Oklahoma Sooners, he will be a Trojan for life. The Trojans' outlook for the program will look severely different if Lincoln Riley gets the biggest win of his tenure. Even without Julian Sayin, Ohio State has an NFL roster all across the board. Knocking them off deserves some praise.The hot seat and doubt around Lincoln Riley will come to a halt. Also, with a win, the Trojans are in a position to get back into the College Football Playoff conversation. Meeting that goal this season restores hope that Lincoln Riley is the right coach to maximize all the incoming talent for USC. A win this week would be monumental for Lincoln Riley.A loss for Riley and USC would do the opposite. Especially, it is a loss similar to last week; that should be enough to ignite some change. The Trojans getting blown out by a Buckeyes team led by a backup quarterback is a lot more likely than USC getting the upset. Coming up short would be another example that Riley is not working out in USC, and it would be an example put on full display in front of all of college football.No matter what happens this week, this very well may be the biggest game of Lincoln Riley's career and a game that will dictate the future of the USC football program.Contact/Follow @TrojansWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of USC Trojans news, notes and opinion.This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Ohio State game will shape future for Lincoln Riley and USC football