STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Lincoln Riley allowed himself a moment to soak it all in. As Penn State fans trickled out of Beaver Stadium disappointed after No. 19 USC's 31-23 win over the Nittany Lions in the annual White Out game, Riley sat on the visiting bench and eyed the scoreboard.
"One of my favorite wins as a head coach, no question," Riley said. "The environment is kind of a moment you don't want to end. What our team did here tonight is really, really, really difficult to do."
A week ago, as USC struggled with Washington at home, some fans could be heard booing at the Coliseum; others chanted for Riley to be fired. The Trojans beat Washington and after taking down Penn State on Saturday, the few USC fans who made the trek to Happy Valley and stuck around began chanting Riley's name.
"I don't listen to anything the fans chant," Riley said with a chuckle. "I bet they chant something different now back in L.A."
During Riley's tenure, USC has struggled on the road in tough environments. Heading into this matchup, the Trojans were 4-6 under Riley in Big Ten road play and 2-6 overall against ranked conference teams. But even though Penn State is unranked and seemingly headed in the wrong direction, Riley put the victory on a pedestal for more than just the result.
"We didn't listen to all that you guys had to say on the outside. This crew doesn't really care," said Riley, who also coached at Oklahoma. "Like I've told you guys many times, I've only been a head coach at two schools. They've both been blue bloods. Blue bloods are unbelievable. The advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. But the disadvantages of the blue bloods are the outside noise is always going to be way over the top, no matter what's happening ... I thought our team blocked out everything."
After failing to beat Oregon in Week 4 at home, the chatter surrounding Riley's future with the program picked up. He and the program said they were ready to meet, and even exceed, expectations this year. If his seat hadn't been quite hot before the season, it appeared the temperature had begun to rise after the loss to Oregon (Riley is now 0-3 against the Ducks while at USC).
Still, Riley preached patience and potential. He said he and his players knew the kind of talent they had behind closed doors and vowed to show it. On Saturday, the Trojans did not quite dominate the game, but they controlled it.
Riley's offense outgained Penn State and moved the ball with ease. Gary Patterson's defense, which had allowed over 100 rushing yards in all but one game this season, held the Nittany Lions to 68 yards on the ground. Jayden Maiava completed 21 of 33 passes for 301 yards and three touchdowns, and Trent Mosley, Tanook Hines and Kayden Dixon-Wyatt each caught a touchdown pass in the win.
"This is a tough place to play, a really hard place to win. You got to really outplay him here to beat him and we did that tonight, and we did it on all three sides," Riley said.
At 6-1, USC will head into a much-needed bye week. When the Trojans return to the field, they face Wisconsin and Indiana on the road, a tough matchup against Ohio State at home and finally a bout with currently undefeated UCLA at the Rose Bowl.
Yet what Riley saw Saturday night at Penn State was enough to make him hopeful and confident for what awaits the Trojans.
"This will be a big spark for us. This group is just scratching the surface," Riley said. "It was a little bit of firepower tonight, but there's way more left in this group. We're going to get better and better, and we keep doing that and we're going to be pretty tough."