Laguna Beach gets emergency repair permit to fill in chunked out Aliso Beach

• September 30, 2026

Sand washed into the Aliso Beach parking lot during recent high surf and surging tide conditions will be used to fill an area to the south where waves chomped away at the shore.

If all goes as planned, officials said the parking lot at the popular, family-friendly South Laguna beach should be cleared and ready to reopen in about two weeks.

In late August, just before Labor Day, the city’s Park Rangers had to cordon off the entrance to the ocean-side lot and close a left-turn lane on Coast Highway.

Aliso Beach is a family beach with restrooms and a cafe that routinely draws hundreds of thousands of people annually. Some, still eager to use the beach, found parking on the highway’s inland side, which provides access to the beach through a tunnel, but yellow tape blocked access to an area along its south end where the ocean had eroded enough sand to affect underground utilities and water lines, while also crumbling the ADA parking spots near the Lost Pier Cafe.

On Tuesday, Sept. 29, crews began work to make the beach and damaged parking lot usable again after securing an emergency permit from the California Coastal Commission last week.

The approximately 25-yard stretch most impacted runs from south of the lifeguard stand to near the cafe. Crews will scrape and sweep the sand off the parking lot and create about a 6-inch base of sand to cover the now-exposed area, said Matt Schneider, the town’s director of community development.

“A lot of the electrical and plumbing is running under this section, and it’s compromised,” he said, adding that even with the current work in place, the outdoor shower near the lifeguard tower will not be returned to functioning. “We had to turn it all off because that was one of the first public safety concerns.”

Crews will demolish the remaining pavement in the now-off-limits area, bring in material to fill the chunked-out spots, and then level the whole area with the recaptured sand.

“We’re going to repurpose what we have, and we think we have just enough to cover this area,” Schneider said.

The surging surf also exposed a line of large boulders — known as riprap — put in long before the city had jurisdiction over Aliso Beach as a first line of defense against high ocean tides. Those, Schneider said, will be repositioned to create a uniform line along the edge of the sand and parking lot.

Crews will also put up a temporary fence — a post-and-wire barrier similar to what’s down near the trail at Strands Beach in Dana Point — along a section of beach that now has a 4- to 5-foot drop-off. The fencing will be temporary to make the beach safer for people through the winter season, Schneider said.

“We really want to keep people off the rocks,” he said, adding that with predictions of a super El Niño, there will likely be more storms, hurricanes, and big swell events eroding the shore.

Laguna Beach is less worried than some of its coastal neighbors about sand renourishment ahead of the storms. San Clemente is prepping with extra sand now, and others need sand to build berms.

That’s where Laguna Beach is lucky, with its riprap boulder line and smaller coves; sand isn’t lost as easily as it is in areas with wide swaths of beaches and less protection from the sea.

“We’re different in the way that once the sand is washed away, we have riprap behind it,” Schneider said. “While neighboring coastal communities rely on the sand itself. While their sand is the buffer, this (riprap) is our final line of defense.”

He added that Laguna Beach also has a strong bedrock foundation, which helps. Many of the homes built decades ago along the sand have seawalls. City officials are now urging folks in those situations to get them inspected.

After the winter storms pass, Schneider said the city will evaluate its entire coastline for sand status and, if more is needed, will go through the usual Coastal Commission permitting process.

Other repairs, such as the outdoor shower at Aliso Beach, will also be made after the winter storms, Schneider said.

“We want to make it safe now,” he said of the work starting this week, “so that people can get in here.”

​ Orange County Register 

US futures dragged lower as oil prices and Treasury yields climb

• September 30, 2026

By YURI KAGEYAMA and MICHELLE CHAPMAN, AP Business Writers

U.S. futures are edging lower as oil prices resume their climb and high bond yields continue to pressure stocks.

Futures for the S&P 500 dipped 0.1% on Wednesday. Dow Jones futures declined 0.2% and Nasdaq futures dropped 0.3%.

Oil prices are now hovering between $90 and $100 per barrel as the U.S. war with Iran drags on, contributing to stubborn inflation. That has meant investors are asking more when they buy U.S. debt, pushing down the price for Treasurys while pushing their yields to their highest levels in 24 years.

Benchmark U.S. crude gained 1.2% to $90.42 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 1.4% to $97.49 a barrel. Both cost about $30 more per barrel than they did at this point last year.

The 10-year Treasury eased back to 5.24% after briefly topping 5.27% Monday. Those are close to levels last seen in 2007, before the financial crisis and Great Recession sent yields toward zero. The 30-year Treasury yield fell to 5.57% on Wednesday, a level not paid out to investors since 2004.

Treasury yields have been rising for a range of reasons, from worries about inflation to Washington’s massive debt load to signs that the U.S. economy remains solid despite its many challenges. That pressures the economy because higher yields make borrowing money more expensive for everyone, while also undercutting prices for stocks and other investments.

There will be another look at inflation and economic growth Wednesday when the U.S. release data on consumer spending for August, and the third estimate for economic growth in the second quarter.

In July, the Federal Reserve’s preferred measurement for inflation, the personal consumption expenditures price index, rose 3.7% from a year ago, the same as in June.

U.S. inflation rates have remained stubbornly above 3% most of the year, well above the Fed’s target rate of 2%. Wall Street expects the central bank to raise its benchmark interest rate again at its next meeting in October.

“While it is easy to focus on the macroeconomic headwinds of bond yields and oil, the underlying U.S. economy remains remarkably resilient,” said Tina Teng, market analyst at Moomoo, a global financial technology and online brokerage company.

Shares of Boeing rose more than 2% before the market open Wednesday as the company said that it received a multi-billion dollar contract from the U.S. Navy for its F/A-XX fighter jets.

In Europe, France’s CAC 40 fell 0.6% to 7,988.68, while the German DAX declined 0.3% to 25,316.62. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.1% to 10,644.65. Asian markets were mostly higher.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar declined to 157.06 Japanese yen from 157.27 yen. The euro cost $1.1357, up from $1.1347.

Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama

​ Orange County Register 

Extreme heat watch issued for the Orange County and Santa Ana Mountains area from Friday to Wednesday

• September 30, 2026

The Orange County and Santa Ana Mountains area was placed under an extreme heat watch by the National Weather Service on Wednesday at 3:05 a.m. The watch is valid from Friday 10 a.m. until Wednesday Oct. 7, at 9 p.m.

“Dangerously hot conditions with high temperatures on the hottest days ranging from around 90 near the coast to the upper 90s to 108 for the valleys possible. Low temperatures for coastal areas into the western valleys will warm into the lower to mid 70s during the weekend with those warm overnight temperatures continuing for next week,” according to the NWS San Diego CA. “A long-duration heat wave is expected to develop late this week and continue through much of next week into the following weekend with Moderate or greater HeatRisk for the coast and valleys and Major to Extreme HeatRisk for inland coastal areas into the western valleys.”

“Heat related illnesses increase significantly during extreme heat events,” the NWS said.

The full list of affected locations includes:

• Santa Ana Mountains/Foothills
• Orange County Coast
• Orange County
• San Diego County Coastal Areas
• San Bernardino and Riverside County Valleys
• San Diego County Inland Valleys

Staying safe in high temperatures

Safety tips from the Environmental Health and Safety office at UC Irvine:

• Drink water: Drinking plenty of water frequently is vital for those exposed to heat. An individual may produce as much as 2 to 3 gallons of sweat per day. To replenish that fluid you should drink 3 to 4 cups of water every hour.
• Take breaks: Taking breaks in a cool shaded area and allowing time for recovery from the heat during the day are effective ways to avoid heat-related illness.
• Avoid some beverages: Avoid or limit the use of alcohol and caffeine during periods of extreme heat. Both dehydrate the body.
• Stop and rest: If you start to feel symptoms such as nausea, dizziness, weakness or unusual fatigue, rest in a cool shaded area. If symptoms persist or worsen seek immediate medical attention.
• Clothing: Whenever possible, wear clothing that provides protection from the sun but allows airflow to the body. Protect your head and shade your eyes when outdoors.
• Be prepared: When in the heat be sure to pay extra attention to those you’re with and be sure you know how to call for medical attention.

For information about cooling centers operated by Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, see https://ready.lacounty.gov/heat/, https://ocgov.com/cooling-centers, https://capriverside.org/cool-centers and DPH.

For more local weather alerts, visit our Weather Advisory page

​ Orange County Register 

Karen Bass is failing LA. Is Nithya Raman worth the gamble?

• September 30, 2026

The choices for mayor of Los Angeles aren’t ideal. But someone’s going to be mayor.

Who should it be?

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’ time as mayor can be best summed up by that interview of her staring vacantly out into the void after the Palisades fire. Her judgment in personnel decisions can likewise probably be summed up by Brian K. Williams, her deputy mayor who pleaded guilty to calling in a fake bomb threat to City Hall. And reports that she directed the watering down of the post-Palisades report (which she denies) and that her press team has used disappearing WhatsApp messages to communicate are totally on-brand for her.

On the homelessness front, Bass has presided over what can only be described as failure. In fact, homelessness counts ticked back up this year 3.4%, nearly triple the rate of the county-wide increase. That she resisted Controller Kenneth Mejia’s efforts to audit her homelessness program Inside Safe again speaks to her contempt for accountability and transparency.

For all of these failures, and more, she’s still seemingly the more conservative choice in this race.

One reason is her set of supporters. The city’s business groups and the police union have backed her. But the first has Stockholm Syndrome and the latter of course is backing Bass because she delivered $1 billion in raises and benefit enhancements to them. On the other hand, there’s a plausible case it’s better to have a mayor who has the ear of businesses and the police rather than far-left activists.

Another reason Bass is the more conservative choice is simply that she’s already the mayor and Angelenos can more or less know what to expect from her. Decline within certain bounds. She’ll sign away the store to the police union and whoever else she needs short-term political help from. Basically. But the city hasn’t gone completely broke, yet. That counts for something.

Then there’s Nithya Raman, the council member best known for being the first self-described democratic socialist on the Los Angeles City Council. The self-proclaimed supporter of “big government intervention” says she doesn’t have government grocery stores on the agenda and that what she wants to do is make government work for the people.

In an interview earlier this year with the editorial board of this paper, she seemed willing to criticize the city’s prioritizing of special interest groups (like the police union) and projects (like the convention center expansion) over the practical needs of Los Angeles. The fact that the vast majority of special interests in the city, especially public employee unions, are backing Bass over Raman is a point in Raman’s favor. If she’s elected, she won’t owe them anything.

Raman says a lot of perfectly sensible things when it comes to housing policy; unlike many on the left, she recognizes the need for market-rate housing and has called for reforms to LA’s self-defeating transfer taxes that (surprise!) have ended up hurting the housing market. Indeed, her housing plan is infinitely better than Bass’ resistance to allowing more housing to get built in more parts of the city.

But for every reasonable thing she says, she has a lot of really bad takes and her status as a democratic socialist endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America-LA should make most people queasy.

The police union put out an ad highlighting her opposition to prohibiting encampments within 500 feet of schools. While she’s right that the mere clearing of encampments is insufficient, it’s also the case that parents and community members aren’t wrong to want encampments away from schools. No doubt, to many ordinary people, her stand makes her look like an out-of-touch ideologue.

Ditto her appearance on the podcast of far-left extremist Hasan Piker, where she agreed that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. Asked on Tuesday September 29 about it at the Jewish Los Angeles Mayoral Forum, she was twice asked how she defines “genocide,” but talked around it by saying she used it because unnamed experts used the term.

Use of a loaded word should probably come with a serviceable definition. Then again, she’s running for a municipal post, and her international policy views are mostly irrelevant to the day-to-day things she’d be doing. And on the other hand, Raman was censured in 2024 by DSA-LA for having accepted support from Democrats for Israel-LA. The horror.

Perhaps the strongest argument for Raman is that she’s not Bass. But the reverse is also the strongest argument for Bass.

Should Bass win re-election, we basically know how things will go. It’ll just be more of the same, with Bass delivering more money for the special interests that got her re-elected and dragging her feet on state mandates for more housing. Whatever progress is made on any front will be in spite of whatever Bass or the City Council are doing.

Should Raman win, I wouldn’t expect Maoist struggle sessions in the apparently renamed Pershing Square. As someone who is not-Bass and more ideas-driven, Raman might be able to channel her political capital to some constructive ends.  If she sticks to being a “sewer socialist” who focuses on getting municipal government to work better rather than dreaming up new ways for government to meddle in everything, that’s practically better than being a mayor who oversaw the burning down of whole neighborhoods.

But on the other hand, I expect Raman to be more interventionist than Bass, but by how much I’m not sure. That Raman is backed by Unite Here Local 11, one of the most obnoxious and odious unions in the state, tells me she will probably be pretty bad for business.

The union is backing her, among other reasons, because she’s more supportive of cracking down on short-term rentals than Bass is. As a supporter of private property rights, I don’t see it as the city’s business to tell homeowners they can’t rent to visitors. And as a supporter of more housing, I don’t buy the argument that housing scarcity justifies curtailing those rights.

It’s things like that that make the trade-off challenging for someone like me and many other Angelenos.

It won’t be surprising at all to see many people simply skipping the mayoral race in protest or disgust, which would then leave the vote to the share of the electorate that can stomach more left-leaning candidates.

Either outcome at that point wouldn’t surprise me, though the vibe seems to be that Raman’s the one with momentum.

But how much risk are Angelenos willing to take? Will some conservatives bail out Bass in the end? Or is Bass so unpopular that some disgruntled Spencer Pratt voters will end up sealing the deal for Raman?

I guess we’ll see, and I can’t really blame anyone for how they decide.

In the end, Angelenos will get the mayor they deserve — whether they vote for one or not.

Sal Rodriguez can be reached at salrodriguez@scng.com

​ Orange County Register 

Erik Weigand: Will Newporters vote twice on Nov. 3?

• September 30, 2026

Two ballots. Two mailings. Two election processes. Thirteen days apart.

Unless Superior Court Judge Julianne Bancroft changes her mind between now and a Sept. 30 hearing, that’s what Newport Beach voters face in the coming weeks. 

As the Register’s Erika Ritchie reported, the dispute involved a lawsuit by the Newport Stewardship Association. Bancroft issued a writ on Sept. 2, which set up the city “to run its own special election for the first time in 44 years on Nov. 3 for a trio of resident-initiated ballot measures.” The cost to taxpayers: up to $1.5 million.

Bancroft’s action voided a 5-2 vote by the council, taken on Aug. 25, to place the three measures before voters in 2028.

But the two ballots will be mailed out at different times. The regular ballot from the Orange County Registrar of Voters is scheduled to arrive on or around Oct. 5. It will include the races for governor, other state and local offices and the 14 state initiatives. It also will include Newport Beach’s Measure H, which would amend the city’s General Plan Land Use Element to allow 2,900 new affordable housing units.

Then on Oct. 19, the special city ballot with three more measures arrives. Measure P limits councilmember terms to eight years, total. But the current limit also is eight years, although someone can run again after a four-year break – which no one has done.

Measure Q lets voters elect only their district’s councilmember. Currently, councilmembers must live in their districts, but all residents vote for every seat.

Measure R expands requirements for public meetings, records access, oversight and enforcement. 

Obviously, none of the three measures is urgent enough to justify spending the additional $1.5 million now rather than waiting two years.

How did this happen? In 1980, the city amended its charter so general municipal elections would be consolidated with statewide general elections. That law should have been followed.

Instead, reported the Voice of OC, “The four initiatives’ nearly $1 million signature gathering effort was entirely funded by local developer Ken Picerne according to campaign disclosures, with former mayor Marshall ‘Duffy’ Duffield serving as treasurer for the effort.” Duffield said the purpose was “to help limit uncontrolled development throughout the city.”

Because Newport Beach does not maintain a full-time municipal elections operation, the city hired a consultant and outside vendors to create and administer this accelerated election. The consultant was selected only after three other firms declined, citing concerns about their ability to conduct an error-free election.

During special City Council meetings on Sept. 10 and 18, officials discussed unresolved logistical issues involving polling locations, ballot drop boxes, access to Orange County vote centers, assistance from the Registrar of Voters and required ballot-security features. Recognizing these challenges, I asked the council to halt the secondary election. Unfortunately, I was denied twice, both on 3-4 votes.

These are not minor details. Whatever one’s position on the underlying dispute, there is now a more immediate question: How is the average voter supposed to navigate an election system being assembled under extraordinary time pressure?

It looks different. It is for a different election. Voters must understand where and how that ballot should be returned.

What happens if a Newporter puts the city ballot into a county envelope, takes it to a county drop box or simply assumes the first ballot was the only one?

Elections have consequences. Those consequences should come from voters making informed choices—not from trying to decipher an unfamiliar election process.

Erik Weigand is a Newport Beach councilman

​ Orange County Register 

Padres rout Cubs as King takes no-hitter into 7th inning in Wild Card Series opener

• September 30, 2026

By GREG BEACHAM AP Sports Writer

SAN DIEGO — Fernando Tatis Jr. hit the first leadoff homer in Padres playoff history on the Cubs’ first pitch, Michael King took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and San Diego rolled to an 8-0 victory over Chicago in their National League Wild Card Series opener on Tuesday night.

Manny Machado also homered in the first inning and added an RBI double in the third during an emphatic opening statement by the 91-win Padres. Xander Bogaerts also homered off Cubs starter Matthew Boyd, and Jackson Merrill added a two-run single later.

San Diego provided more than enough support for King, who struck out eight over seven stellar innings while thoroughly throttling the majors’ highest-scoring team. King set the tone by striking out likely NL MVP Pete Crow-Armstrong with the game’s first three pitches.

Nico Hoerner got the Cubs’ only hit off King with a one-out infield single in the seventh, but King racked up two more strikeouts to earn the last of several standing ovations from the raucous sellout crowd watching his third career playoff start.

Game 2 is Wednesday night at Petco Park. The series winner faces the top-seeded Milwaukee Brewers in a best-of-five NL Division Series that begins Saturday in Wisconsin.

Chicago had just one hit before getting to Joe Musgrove, the Padres veteran making his first major league appearance since Oct. 2, 2024, in the ninth inning. The Cubs got two singles and a walk before Musgrove struck out pinch-hitter Michael Conforto to preserve the shutout in his return from Tommy John surgery.

The Padres dominated the opener of this rematch of last fall’s Wild Card Series, won by the Cubs in three tight games. San Diego scored more runs in the first five innings of this series opener than it did last year in all three games at Wrigley Field combined.

San Diego finished this season with the majors’ sixth-best record, besting Chicago by two wins and setting franchise records with its third straight playoff berth and fifth straight winning record. The Padres hit the postseason on a 17-3 roll, and they’re still surging.

Boyd’s opening pitch was a changeup, and Tatis crushed it 405 feet to center in a blast reminiscent of his first-inning homer in Game 1 of San Diego’s 2024 NL Wild Card Series victory over the Atlanta Braves.

Moments later, Machado smashed another changeup out to left-center, setting off pandemonium at Petco with his franchise-record ninth postseason homer.

Tatis walked in the third and scored from first on Machado’s double to the wall. Bogaerts connected in the fourth, lining a full-count changeup into the seats on the Western Metal Supply Co. building above left field.

San Diego loaded the bases in the fifth against reliever Javier Assad, and Merrill cracked a two-run single to center before Ty France scored on a passed ball.

King escaped the minor trouble he faced, picking up key strikeouts and throwing his sweeper superbly. Hoerner got Chicago’s hit on a grounder that Machado stopped with difficulty, but couldn’t transfer to his throwing hand cleanly enough to make a play.

Tatis scored his third run in the seventh when he singled, stole second and ran all the way home when the throw trickled into center. Tatis slid headfirst past the tag and came up screaming while Machado theatrically signaled him safe.

UP NEXT

Nick Pivetta (3-2, 2.86 ERA) starts Game 2 for the Padres in his fifth game back from a near five-month absence with a right elbow injury. The Cubs haven’t named their starter.

More to come on this story.

​ Orange County Register 

Schlittler, Rice lead Yankees past Red Sox in AL Wild Card Series opener

• September 30, 2026

By MIKE FITZPATRICK AP Baseball Writer

NEW YORK — Cam Schlittler pitched another playoff gem against the Boston Red Sox, and Ben Rice also burned their hometown team with a late grand slam and six RBIs as the New York Yankees opened this American League Wild Card Series rematch with a 9-0 victory on Tuesday night.

With the Yankees playing without star slugger Aaron Judge because of a calf injury, Rice homered twice, doubled and finished with four hits to power the offense. No. 9 batter Austin Wells drove in two runs for New York, and 21-year-old rookie George Lombard Jr. had three hits in his postseason debut.

Rice and Schlittler were both raised among Red Sox fans in Massachusetts and went to college in New England before getting plucked by the Yankees out of Boston’s backyard in baseball’s amateur draft.

Schlittler, the overwhelming favorite to win the AL Cy Young Award after leading the league with a 1.95 ERA, struck out 10 and walked one in 6⅓ innings. He allowed only two hits while throwing 117 pitches – 10 more than his previous career high and the most by a Yankees postseason starter since Hall of Fame left-hander CC Sabathia threw 121 in the 2012 AL Division Series against Baltimore.

The major-league high this season was 120 by Dylan Cease for Toronto at Boston in July.

The 25-year-old Schlittler retired 13 consecutive batters before issuing a two-out walk in the fifth, bringing several chants of “M-V-P! M-V-P!” from the sellout crowd of 48,437 in the Bronx. He walked off the mound to a standing ovation after yielding a one-out single in the seventh, and Paul Blackburn promptly got Ceddanne Rafaela to ground into an inning-ending double play that preserved a 2-0 lead.

Game 2 in the best-of-three series is Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium, where a victory would send New York into a best-of-five ALDS against AL East champion Tampa Bay.

The Yankees won last year’s Wild Card Series between the longtime rivals on the strength of Schlittler’s outstanding pitching performance in Game 3.

UP NEXT

Red Sox right-hander Sonny Gray (18-5, 2.72 ERA) will make his seventh postseason start on Wednesday night but his first since 2023 with Minnesota. Gray, who tied for the major league lead in wins this year, spent a turbulent 1½ seasons with the Yankees from 2017-18. He hasn’t been shy in the past about his dislike for the Bronx Bombers, but he was more diplomatic on Tuesday.

“I do know that playing here made me a stronger person, made me a better man, a better husband. Ultimately, it made me a better pitcher,” Gray said. “I learned a lot.”

Gray took a no-hitter into the eighth inning against the Yankees in late June to help finish a four-game sweep at Fenway Park that helped turn around Boston’s season.

Left-hander Max Fried (5-5, 2.80 ERA) will take the mound for New York. The three-time All-Star, a former Harvard-Westlake standout, was limited to 20 starts this season because of two stints on the injured list with a bruised left elbow. He threw 6⅓ scoreless innings against Boston in the Wild Card Series opener last year.

More to come on this story.

​ Orange County Register 

How will No. 18 USC football move on after losing to No. 15 Oregon?

• September 30, 2026

LOS ANGELES — Lincoln Riley didn’t sleep much on Saturday night.

The late-game run that tied USC with Oregon haunted him; a cruel reminder not just of the lack of closure in the eventual 41-27 loss, but also in Riley’s tenure as head coach of the Trojans.

Three straight losses to Oregon. A 5-15 record against ranked teams. Going 2-16 against ranked Big Ten teams over the past two seasons.

“To put ourselves in that position to win it, not capitalize on it – it guts you,” Riley told reporters. “I mean it, just it does. My job is when Sunday morning comes around, I got to get up, and I gotta go lead the charge.

“I can’t walk up in there anything else but focused and hungry, motivated on what we got to do better.”

The Trojans (4-1 overall, 1-1 Big Ten) are licking their wounds with Saturday’s game against Washington (3-1, 0-1) and even more daunting opponents around the corner, even though their rose-tinted words feel like Band-Aids on a hemorrhage.

The first step toward accountability after the loss was issuing a one-game suspension to linebacker Desman Stephens II, who delivered a hit on Ducks quarterback Dante Moore that sent him to the hospital.

Stephens was also seen celebrating after the hit, which Riley said he didn’t see during the game.

It was a shocking moment, especially considering this was the same player who went out of his way to shake the hands of every reporter in the postgame press conference after USC’s season-opening victory over San José State.

“Knowing him like I do, do I believe deep down in my heart that he was celebrating over an injured player? No,” Riley said.

“It’s a little difficult to describe to everybody what it’s like in the arena when you haven’t been in the arena. It’s highly competitive. It’s highly emotional. And so I’m disappointed with what he did, and he needs to have more awareness because it was a serious situation.”

Taking ownership and honestly acknowledging the current, struggling state of the USC program could also prevent the season from slipping away.

Throughout this season, Riley and the team have preferred to internalize discussions regarding accountability within the team and ignore the outside noise from fans, social media and traditional media outlets, both local and national.

Running back King Miller said he hasn’t deleted his social media, but he rarely looks at it.

“I don’t think there is any challenge with (ignoring outside noise),” Miller said “I think it’s what we all came here to do. We ain’t come here for the outside noise, for what everybody has to say or whatever. We came here to play football at the end of the day, so I think that’s what we’re focused on next week.”

The remainder of the season could determine Riley’s future with USC, and it could lead to other structural changes within the program as well. Tough road games at Penn State (3-1) and No. 6 Indiana (4-0), as well as a home game against No. 5 Ohio State (3-1) and a rivalry matchup with an up-and-coming No. 23 UCLA team (4-0), remain on the schedule.

The head coach, who earns $11.5 million annually, is taking it day by day.

“I woke up – sun came up Sunday morning, fortunately,” he said, “and I came back up here. Got to work. Staff got to work. Guys were great on Sunday night, and the week has gone very well up to this point.”

​ Orange County Register