Lincoln Riley was on a podcast with Yogi Roth and Todd Blackledge this week.

That’s a very friendly environment because the duo talks about USC every week and it’s pretty much fanboy central.

Here’s a comment I saw that caught my eye from Riley.

“I’m always interested in how many people have an opinion who have never been to a practice or been to one of our games.”

First, he doesn’t allow most people to attend practices. So it’s a convenient excuse. Kind of like in 2023 when he said people who criticized the defense and Alex Grinch had an untrained eye.

And second, games are on something called TV. He doesn’t want an analyst for a non-USC network to criticize him because he is not at the games personally?

That doesn’t stop Riley from talking about opponents he hasn’t seen in person but only on film. There’s no logic to this other than to try and discredit anyone who would dare criticize him.

• Josh Rivera, a 6-7 wing from Archbishop Stepinac in White Plains, N.Y., has committed to USC.

Rivera was a teammate in high school with USC’s current freshmen, the Ratliff twins. He chose USC over Loyola Chicago, North Carolina State, UMass and FIU.