Caleb Williams, Shedeur Sanders represent CFB's changing landscape - ESPN

LOS ANGELES — On a recent Saturday night in September, Lincoln Riley leaned forward in his chair to answer a question, searching his mind for a reason not to agree with its premise. USC had just dominated Stanford 56-10 for its third win of the season and looked every bit the part of the best offense in the country.

Is there anything not clicking on offense for you guys right now?

«It's one game,» Riley said, downplaying the notion. He glanced at the box score. «I mean, how long do you have?»

Over Riley's left shoulder, a relaxed Caleb Williams leaned back in his chair after only needing to play one half of football and answered the same inquiry without saying a word. The defending Heisman Trophy winner smiled, pressed his lips together and shook his head.

The truth was that, as much as Riley's propensity is to look at opportunities for improvement, the Trojans' offense appeared smoother than ever in that game — Riley and Williams, in sync in their approach and execution as it's felt from the moment they both arrived in Southern California. After Williams followed Riley's shocking move to USC from Oklahoma with one of his own, the pairing created an immediate foundation from which to not just build out a roster that fit their style and skill set, but also to turn around a program that had won four games the year prior into one that turned over its roster, which saw immediate results and attracted national attention.

This week, they're facing an opponent who has also done just that. Through four weeks under Deion Sanders, and after bringing in 51 new players by way of the transfer portal (USC, by comparison, had 26 last year) Colorado has tripled its win total from 2022 and is the talk of the sport.

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