The USC football team hired Lincoln Riley to be their head coach a couple seasons ago, and Riley left Oklahoma to coach the Trojans. Riley had been very successful as the head coach of Oklahoma, and his first season as the head coach of USC was a success as well. The Trojans had struggled in the previous years leading up to the Lincoln Riley era, but in year one, they were immediately a national title contender, and they were just one win away from winning the Pac-12 title and going to the College Football Playoff. The Trojans ended up losing in the Pac-12 title game against Utah to miss out on the playoff, but that was still a very promising first season for Riley.

Because of the success that Lincoln Riley and USC football had in that first year, the expectations for year two became sky-high. A big reason for that was Caleb Williams and the offense. Williams won the Heisman trophy during Riley's first season as the head coach of the Trojans, and the offense was too much for almost every defense that they faced. Williams and a lot of the weapons on that offense came back for the 2023 season, and when that happened, USC became the favorite to win the Pac-12, and a lot of people thought that they were going to make the College Football Playoff.

Unfortunately for USC, the 2023 season did not go as planned. Caleb Williams was once again one of the best players in the country, but the Trojans failed to address their major weakness from the 2022 team: the defense. The reason that USC wasn't able to accomplish everything in 2022 because was because the defense was holding them back. Their offense was loaded with talent, but the defense just wasn't good enough. Instead of fixing the defense, it seemed like the Trojans just tried to load up the offense even more, and their plan didn't work.

This past year was not a good season for USC football. The Trojans had all of this talent on offense, they had the high preseason ranking, they had the expectations, but they were never able to deliver on the field. USC started off the year 6-0 and they were still clinging to their championship hopes, but a 1-5 back half ended any hopes of having a successful season. The Trojans finished the regular season 7-5, and they concluded the year with a trip to the Holiday Bowl. It was a very disappointing 2023 campaign.

Now, for the first time in his career, Lincoln Riley has some of his fanbase doubting him. USC took a major step backwards last year, and now, the 2o24 season is going to be a very important one. The Trojans are making the move to the Big Ten, so they have quite the tricky schedule, and they also will be without Caleb Williams next year. The quarterback position is going to be a major question mark as Williams is heading to the NFL and the former #1 overall recruit, Malachi Nelson, transferred to Boise State.

The good news for USC and Riley is that they can go to the transfer portal to get some of the help that they need. They already have dipped in as they picked up QB transfer Jayden Maiava from UNLV, and they have a good amount of other talented players that they have picked up as well. Everybody that is coming to USC from the transfer portal will be crucial in next year's mission of a turnaround season. Here is one player coming in that is going to have a lot to prove during his first season with the USC football team.

S Kamari Ramsey, UCLA

Kamari Ramsey has a lot to prove next year for a few reasons. First, because of the fact that he is one of the highest ranked players that USC has landed from the transfer portal. Second, he is coming over to USC from their crosstown rival, UCLA, and finally, because of the fact that Ramsey is a defensive player and that is where the Trojans need to improve the most next season.

USC football has landed 11 incoming transfers so far. The Trojans know that there are some things that they need to tighten up before next season, and during the first round of the portal being open, they did a good job of attacking the areas that they need to improve the most. Of those 11 players, Kamari Ramsey has the highest rating out of all of them, according to 247 Sports. Ramsey took a big leap last season in the UCLA defense, and he ended up having a solid year. He racked up 40 total tackles and added one interception.

The Trojans desperately need help on defense next season, and that is why they went after Ramsey. All eyes will be on him, so he will have to prove himself to the team and the fan base.

Ramsey is also coming from over from UCLA. Anytime a player transfers over to a rival, they are going to get a lot of attention. It doesn't happen often, but the Trojans have a few Bruins coming over in the transfer portal, and it's because of new defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn, who was the DC for the Bruins last year.

Still, USC doesn't like UCLA. Lynn is going to have a lot to prove next season, and so are all the guys that are transferring over. No one has to as much as Ramsey though. He is expected to be a big piece to the puzzle on defense.

The USC football defense was one of the worst in college football last season, and that is another reason why Ramsey has a ton to prove. He will be getting a lot of attention because people are expecting him to make a difference on that side of the ball. If other transfer players don't pan out, it won't get noticed as much as it would if Ramsey didn't pan out.

The pressure is on for a lot of people at USC next year. The Trojans didn't come close to meeting their expectations last season, and because of that, really the entire team has a lot to prove next year.