USC football coach Lincoln Riley is working new quarterback magic post Caleb Williams in Los Angeles. Now Jayden Maiava is garnering pre-first round chatter before the 2027 NFL Draft. But Riley still believes Maiava deserves more respect before the Indiana showdown for Saturday.

Riley dove into why his quarterback should earn more praise when speaking with reporters Thursday. He pinpointed that Maiava has improved his personal stats with a far younger wide receiver crew on his side.

“The difference in all the skill [players] both being new and young and some of the guys in and out of the lineup, he has had to adjust with that as well. I don't know if there's enough respect for what he's doing with this young of a group. Like, that's hard to do man. It's hard to do.”

Riley even added how Maiava at times has made working with mostly freshmen and sophomore look easy. Though Riley admitted that Maiava didn't play his football against a previous unranked Wisconsin team, which fired off new rumors of Riley's job security. USC bounced back in a huge way by toppling previous No. 2 Ohio State on Halloween, though, which quieted critics.

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Still, Indiana presents USC with its next biggest hurdle. Not only are the Hoosiers the defending national champions, but this game will take place in Bloomington with a rabid home crowd expected. But Riley believes his QB is “gearing up to play extremely well in this last stretch.”

Now USC is back in the hunt for both the Big Ten Conference Championship Game. And they're also not officially out of the College Football Playoff race either in moving to No. 18 there.