There’s a harsh reality to tackle — playoff football has long been an afterthought for the USC Trojans. 

Since the inception of the college football playoff in 2014, the Trojans have yet to make it to the grandest of stages in the sport. If we’re being completely fair, it’s not necessarily an indictment, as that’s similarly the case for various marquee college football programs. 

However, anything less than competing at the highest level shouldn’t be the standard at the University of Southern California. Since 2010, the Trojans have only played twice in a January bowl game. One of those appearances? A now infamous loss to a group of five team Tulane in the Cotton Bowl. 

There’s a handful of blue bloods, or teams on the cusp of that distinction, that also never made the playoff, or only made it once, with no hardware to show for it. The saving grace for the Trojans and those other programs is the fact that the four-team playoff was incredibly hard to make. Some argued it was even a flawed system.

Is that an immutably fair talking point? Not necessarily. The Trojans were in a conference that sent two other programs to the four-team playoff in that span in Oregon and Washington. Washington is a program that made the playoffs twice in the 10-year span under two different coaching regimes. 

Another reason the four-team playoff excuse doesn’t hold up is that USC was a mainstay during the BCS era where it was more difficult to reach the mountain top of college football. It’s simple math. It’s tougher to make the top two teams than it is the top four teams, and they did it. Consistently. 

Eras change, coaches and players leave and enter, but standards? They don’t change. That’s how blue bloods became blue bloods. A bevy of programs have been playing football for well over a century, but few have committed to excellence that stands the test of time. 

USC coach Lincoln Riley has been tasked with returning the Trojans to the level they historically have competed at. Riley’s first two seasons have drastically underachieved, but the Trojans are on the right path and that should be acknowledged. The adage goes the old shall become the new and that rings true for the Trojans. 

USC is 3-1 overall and 1-1 in Big Ten conference play. The old has become new again and the Trojans are reliant upon stellar defensive performances, concerted attempts to establish the run game, and clutch quarterback play from a California-bred quarterback.

Sound familiar? 

The Trojans once again face a tough road test in Minnesota this weekend and it’s an incredibly important game. The playoff, which has been expanded to twelve teams, is the goal for the Trojans. It’s finally a realistic one again.

They’ve got a wagon of a Penn State team the week after this, so it’s twofold. Looking ahead can get you beat. This is a Minnesota team that just went into Ann Arbor and lost to Michigan by the same score the Trojans did. The Golden Gophers were robbed of an opportunity to tie or outright win the ball game after a botched onside kick penalty that ultimately ended the game. They’ll use that ending as fuel for this matchup.

The other side of the coin is that winning this game gives you insurance. You’re already behind the eight-ball after dropping the Michigan game and you have Penn State and Nebraska remaining in the schedule. There are certainly other games to worry about, but the Trojans will more than likely be favored in every game post-Penn State.

Taking care of business against Minnesota keeps USC on track for its lofty goals. A loss would be catastrophic. A win puts you on track for at worst a 10-2 projection the rest of the way. 

 “It’s unacceptable going forward. We’ve got to get that addressed.” quarterback Miller Moss said when asked about slow starts the last two games. 

The Trojans have the right mentality. Can they sustain the level of play and reach their ultimate goal? Saturday’s game will be a great snapshot of how close they are to doing so.