LOS ANGELES — The ink had barely dried on contracts for USC’s crop of signing-day recruits before Lincoln Riley trained a public eye to an immediate future that could make or break his program’s hopes in 2025.

“Obviously, the transfer portal opens up here pretty quickly,” head coach Riley said on last Wednesday’s signing day, “and there’s gonna be some positions that we’re certainly gonna be aggressive with that we need to go make some moves on.”

It didn’t quite become clear how aggressive Riley and USC needed to be, however, until the floodgates officially opened Monday and transfer-portal waves begun sweeping through the program’s roster. Suddenly, USC was down a starting right tackle and much of any semblance of an offensive line, as a source with knowledge of the situation told the Southern California News Group that veteran lineman Mason Murphy will transfer. Even more dire, another source confirmed that electric running back Quinten Joyner is set to hit the portal, robbing USC of a potential starting back in 2025.

A review of this USC roster, suddenly, reveals a number of holes, as the program now likely needs to go portal-hunting for:

A veteran quarterback to fill depth, or compete for a starting job, behind Jayden Maiava and Husan Longstreet

A starting running back, with Woody Marks heading to the NFL and redshirt freshman Joyner gone to the portal

A veteran receiver or two, with steady-handed Kyron Hudson gone to the portal

Defensive-line talent, to upgrade a unit that struggled to generate pressure for much of the 2024 season

Secondary depth, as USC will lose at least seven graduating seniors

A starter or two, or significant depth, on USC’s offensive line

That last point, particularly, is concerning for the program’s future. It’s eminently possible that USC can nab all such gifts on its transfer-portal Christmas list, with an expanding NIL collective in House of Victory ready and able to shell out cash for upgrades. But Riley has emphasized multiple times that USC has tried to pivot away from looking to the portal for offensive linemen, instead choosing to prioritize youth development.

“We’ve got a lot of good-looking young linemen that are talented and going to be good players,” Riley said a couple weeks ago, the week before USC’s loss to Notre Dame. “It’s been a while, probably well before I was here, until that was the case.”

For now, the program still has young left tackle Elijah Paige and right guard Alani Noa entrenched. But center Jonah Monheim and left guard Emmanuel Pregnon are headed to the NFL. Backup Gino Quinones, plagued by injuries the last two seasons, is transferring. Young guard Amos Talalele, in line to compete for a starting job in 2025, is also transferring. Murphy’s decision Monday leaves USC needing to fill three offensive-line spots, and not a single member of the group that’s left on the roster has played more than 100 snaps of collegiate football.

Joyner, meanwhile, comes as the single biggest individual loss of USC’s offseason thus far. For three years, the Trojans’ backfield has been a carousel under Lincoln Riley: transfer Travis Dye started in 2022, and transfer MarShawn Lloyd started in 2023, and transfer Marks started in 2024. Joyner seemed poised to snap the cycle come 2025, a twitchy back who had been in Riley’s system for two years and popped on tape whenever afforded the opportunity.

“The confidence, I think, is growing in Quinten,” Riley said in late October. “He’s a guy we’d like to get more opportunities. He’s got to continue to become a better player when the ball is not in his hands. But I think he is, and our confidence is growing in him.”

But despite finishing with a solid 478 yards on the ground in 12 games, averaging a scorching 7.6 yards per carry, the 5-foot-11, 211-pound Joyner never quite found a consistent foothold in USC’s backfield. He recorded 10 carries in a game just twice, including filling in admirably for an injured Marks in USC’s loss to Notre Dame. After losing a crucial fumble in a midseason loss to Minnesota, Joyner received just three carries in each of his next three games.

Bryan Jackson, a 6-foot, 230-pound freshman remains entrenched on the roster, and is in line for a major opportunity in the Las Vegas Bowl with Joyner’s departure. But in all, USC lost two potential 2025 starters Monday.