The time has come for USC to pony up and pay Lincoln Riley's buyout after bottom falls out against Wisconsin

Buying out Riley may cost the Trojans as much as $70 million, but keeping him around may be even more costly for a blueblood program that expects to compete for national titles Lincoln Riley and USC already have two losses this season and haven't yet hit the most challenging stretch of their Big Ten schedule. Saturday night's 24-7 loss at Wisconsin was marked by an abysmal offensive performance coming out of an open date for the No. 16 Trojans, whose only touchdown drive came in the second quarter. USC came into the matchup with the conference's seventh-best rushing offense, but managed minus-17 yards on 25 carries, which included a couple of sacks on Jayden Maiva.

USC's quarterback finished 31-of-50 for 258 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions without any semblance of help from the backfield. With top-10 Ohio State, Indiana and UCLA looming over the final four games, this was as close to a must-win as it gets for Riley, who's now 41-20 overall in his fifth season and is in danger of missing the College Football Playoff — again. USC's three Big Ten wins this season have come against teams with a combined conference record of 3-10. And considering Riley's 5-15 with the Trojans against top-25 opponents, the likelihood of USC climbing back into the at-large discussion is slim.