Saturday night’s game between the USC Trojans and Oregon Ducks had an extremely scary moment when USC linebacker Desman Stephens knocked out Oregon quarterback Dante Moore with an illegal hit.

With roughly 10 minutes remaining in the second quarter, Moore escaped the pocket and scrambled for a first down. However, as Moore attempted to slide and protect himself from a hit, Stephens lowered his shoulder and delivered a frightening hit to Moore’s head, sending him into an involuntary fencing position, which would indicate a loss of consciousness.

Moore was eventually stretchered and transported to a hospital. Stephens faced intense backlash for smiling and celebrating after the hit while Moore remained down on the field, and he has since been suspended one game by USC head coach Lincoln Riley

However, ESPN’s Paul Finebaum doesn’t think the punishment is anywhere near severe enough.

“It’s an utter disgrace. What we saw here was a tale of an elite coach and a complete fraud of a coach. I think everybody knows who the fraud is,” Finebaum said on First Take.

“Everybody knows who the fraud is. It’s Lincoln Riley… it will cost about $70 million to get rid of Lincoln Riley. But I promise you, USC people, it will be worth it because this guy is bringing your program down to the gutter” – Paul Finebaum pic.twitter.com/Ir21TYRTlF

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 28, 2026

“It’s Lincoln Riley… it will cost about $70 million to get rid of Lincoln Riley. But I promise you, USC people, it will be worth it because this guy is bringing your program down to the gutter.”

Finebaum isn’t the only one questioning if Riley is the right leader for the Trojans moving forward. Fox Sports’ Colin Cowherd, a longtime USC fan, also questioned the culture of the program under the head coach.

“There was a moment in this game, pretty frightening. You see this happen a half dozen times, maybe more, a year in college or pro football, where a quarterback slides, and a defender, you know, hammers him. And Desman Stephens did here,” Cowherd said.

“It’s ugly. It makes your stomach turn… but what really bothers me was the defensive player went to the sideline and was laughing about it, high-fiving people, had no self-awareness. USC’s program is a little too casual, a little too sophomoric, a little too high school. You think Curt Cignetti at Indiana’s sideline would’ve looked like that? No.”