What's next for Lincoln Riley's USC after Trojans lose to Washington in Week 10?

The USC Trojans lost 26-21 to the Washington Huskies on Saturday and things have started to boil over for Trojans fans. Some are starting to call for Lincoln Riley to be fired.

It is not surprising that many fans are getting frustrated. USC was ranked in the AP Top 25 but has fallen apart in recent weeks, losing four of its last five games.

What's more frustrating is that the Trojans have performed well against ranked opponents. They started the season with a 27-20 win over then-No. 13-ranked LSU and looked poised to have a great season. They even took then-No. 4-ranked Penn State to overtime on Oct. 12 before eventually losing 33-30.

However, the Trojans have found ways to lose winnable games. In addition to the losses against Penn State and Washington, they lost to Minnesota, Maryland and Michigan. All of those games were decided by one score, and it is easy to see a world where USC could have a much better record than it has.

What's next for Lincoln Riley and his USC Trojans?

For many USC fans, the best next move would be to part ways with Lincoln Riley. However, it does not seem like that is something the athletic department is interested in doing during the season.

Although Riley is 23-12 in his third season at the school, will USC have the stomach to pull the plug on another coach? The Trojans have fired their last three coaches before the midway mark of the season. And many of them went on to great success elsewhere.

Steve Sarkisian, who was let go five games into the 2015 season, leads No. 6 Texas, which made the CFP last season. Ed Orgeron, the interim head coach after Riley, led LSU to the 2019 national title. And the school let go of Clay Helton (46-24) two games into the 2021 season.

With the loss to Washington (5-4, 3-3), it ended all small hopes the Trojans might have had of making the playoffs. They sit near the bottom of the Big Ten standings and do not have a chance to catch conference leaders Indiana and Oregon.

They will need to wait a week before getting back into action again as they have an open week next week. They will be back on Nov. 16 when they host Nebraska (5-4, 2-4). It should be a competitive game between two teams that have been middling this season.

It is a similar story the following week as the Trojans face UCLA. They should be favored in that matchup as USC has performed better than their record suggests. They will close their campaign against No. 10-ranked Notre Dame (7-1, 0-0 FBS Independent). Although the Fighting Irish will be favored, the Trojans have done well against ranked opponents and could end the season with a win.