USC Football: Matt Leinart Encourages Trojan Fans to Stay Calm After Ugly Triple OT Win

After your USC Trojans narrowly took down the Arizona Wildcats this weekend, the fears of most fans came back to life. The USC defense was poor all game, and it allowed a team that was heavy underdogs to stick with them all night. At one point, USC found themselves down 17-0, so credit them for coming back, but the problems still remain.

Former USC quarterback Matt Leinart offered up some words of encouragement after the Trojans' eventual 43-41 triple-overtime victory over Arizona this weekend.

Leinart has a point here, but at the same time, the way that USC has been winning is a bit of a concern. While they are undefeated, they have struggled against teams that they shouldn’t be, and their defense is an issue.

In college football, how a team wins their games is just as important as the win itself for the College Football Committee. At the end of the season, they go through each team's resume with a fine comb, and the slightest hiccup could cost a team a spot.

Luckily for the Trojans, they still have a ton of strong teams on their schedule, so they have chances to pick it up. But if they perform the way they did against Arizona, they can kiss their College Football Playoff chances goodbye.

They will be heading to South Bend for their matchup with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, and that game won’t be a cakewalk. The Irish have lost two of three games, and they would love nothing more than to ruin their historic rivals perfect season.

The Trojans can’t afford to have another slip-up defensively this coming week, otherwise, it will cost them. They need to re-group and re-focus the rest of the way and hope that things improve. The clock is ticking on their season if not, and everything the Trojans have put together could all be for nothing if so.

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