The chorus felt frustratingly familiar. Here too, in the wake of another disappointing loss, was the same rosy message from Lincoln Riley, reassuring the crowd that USC was actually just a few plays, a few stops, a few inches away from where the coach wanted them.

It’s all a matter of perspective. But as close as USC came, as “tested” as it may be now, the harsh reality is that Riley has lost seven of his last 12 as coach of the Trojans. That ties with the worst 12 games of Clay Helton’s tenure as USC’s coach.

With No. 4 Penn State on Saturday at the Coliseum, the Trojans are now playing for their College Football Playoff lives in mid-October, with no room for error.

“I promise you,” Riley said this week, “we’re still a very confident team. This is not a team that has had two defeats where we were taken down. No, that is not the case. We know what we are capable of.”

Miller Moss had a lot of time to think about that subject during the long flight home from Minneapolis on October 5.

“The most important thing for us right now,” the quarterback said, “is everything we stood for, what we worked for, all the messages we said to the team that said what we stood for. that is tested the most.”

That split moment will be next weekend, against Penn State.

“We have two pretty clear choices,” Moss continued. “Double down who we are and come closer together as a team and continue with the great opportunity we have this weekend, or let this affect us and keep us from what we ultimately want to do.”

By Saturday night, we should have a much better idea of ​​which path the Trojans have chosen.