LOS ANGELES — The coronation came nearly a year ago, and the next member of Lincoln Riley’s king-making quarterback lineage was slaying Louisville in the San Diego night. USC’s Miller Moss arrived, then, in a glorious stepping stone for his program’s future, a six-touchdown performance in the Holiday Bowl that seemingly set him on a direct path to Trojan glory.
It was as perfect a moment as any, across the last three years of Riley’s tenure at USC. The program’s future at quarterback seemed uncertain...