USC quarterback Miller Moss opened the 2024 season by backing up the way he ended the 2023 season.

After 2022 Heisman Trophy winner and eventual 2023 No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams declared for the draft and opted out of the postseason, Moss got the keys to the USC offense and tossed six touchdowns in a head-turning Holiday Bowl win over ACC runner-up Louisville. Flash forward eight months, and Moss found himself on the national stage again, this time as the full-time starter and with then-No. 13 LSU on the other side of Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

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Moss guided the Trojans to a 27-20 win, completing 27-of-36 passes for 378 yards and a touchdown. The following week, he piloted a 48-0 victory over Utah State, turning in an additional 229 passing yards and one more score through the air.

USC head coach Lincoln Riley said that Moss has exceeded expectations when it comes to his toughness and his leadership. Both have stood out, Riley said Wednesday on “The Herd with Colin Cowherd.”

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“Sometimes they’re tough to assess,” Riley said, referencing those two qualities. “You go watch a running back in practice or a linebacker, you get to see the physicality and how they hit, how they compete. Quarterbacks, they’re a little bit different. Most people don’t hit their quarterbacks in practice. And you start getting in those live situations when they’re taking shots and they’ve got to get up, or they’ve got to stand in there and make big throws. You learn a lot about guys in those scenarios.

“And then we’ve been able to see Miller from a leadership standpoint with last year’s group at the end of the year and then certainly this team. I think he’s done a really nice job leading our guys and being somebody that our guys want to play for.”

The No. 11 Trojans will need Moss’ leadership this week when they go to Ann Arbor to play No. 18 Michigan in The Big House. It’s a top-20 showdown, and it’s USC’s first-ever Big Ten game.

Matt Leinart raves about Miller Moss’ commitment to USC, development as quarterback

A Trojans Heisman Trophy quarterback started following Moss’ journey long before the 2024 season, and long before Moss’ prolific performance in last year’s Holiday Bowl.

That’s Matt Leinart, who joined his FOX Sports colleague Joel Klatt Wednesday to talk about what Leinart’s seen from his alma mater so far this year, leading up to the clash between USC and Michigan in Ann Arbor Saturday.

“I’ve known Miller since he was probably 5,” Leinart said on “The Joel Klatt Show.” “He used to go to my camps. … He’s always had that swag. You see those little 8-year-old kids who wear the wristbands, and they can play, but you’re like, ‘OK, this kid’s got some swag.’ Miller was always that kid. I’ll never forget him. I remember him and his parents, every year they’d come, and he was a diehard Trojan.

“He was never going to leave USC, no matter what happened. Because he is Trojan through and through. That’s why I’m really proud of him for sticking it out. But he’s always had game. He was really good in high school here, he was a fairly big-time recruit, and he’s just kind of waited his turn.”

Moss was the No. 208 overall prospect, and the No. 22 quarterback, in the 2021 class, according to the On3 Industry Ranking. He emerged as a four-star recruit at Bishop Alemany High School, where, as a junior, he completed 67.4% of his passes for 3,118 yards, 28 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

Moss sat behind Kedon Slovis and Jaxson Dart in 2021 and then Caleb Williams in 2022 and 2023. He got his chance to lead the offense last winter and made the most of the opportunity in the Holiday Bowl.

He’s built on that postseason outing early this season.

“You turn on the tape, and some of those throws against LSU in that environment, that’s top-notch quarterback play,” Leinart said. “Couple throws even last game against Utah State, I know they beat them pretty handily, but he’s making throws that not just a game manager would make. He’s putting it into windows that are really tight. He’s getting them in the right plays.”

Leinart continued, calling back to a conversation he had with Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley in the offseason: “Lincoln basically said it’s going to be easier for him to call games in a sense. Because they can get in a rhythm, they can get in a flow. Because with Caleb, who was sensational, you just didn’t know what you were going to get sometimes when he’s running around making plays.

“With Miller, you know exactly the checks and where he’s probably going to go with the football. And you’re seeing that so far with the run game, with the pass game.”

Leinart pointed out that arguably USC’s best player, receiver and return man Zachariah Branch, has yet to break out this season. Still, the Trojans’ offense has been humming, and Leinart believes Moss is a big reason why.

“I think it just goes to show the job Miller’s done in running this offense at an elite level like a lot of the quarterbacks have done for Lincoln Riley,” Leinart said.

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