USC painting a disjointed picture of huge matchup against Oregon

The USC Trojans have a massive matchup against the Oregon Ducks on Saturday. 

It's a game that could very well determine the College Football Playoff futures of both teams. Heck, it's a game that could determine the future of head coach Lincoln Riley in Southern California.

Riley is a great recruiter, and he's won plenty of games at USC. He's coached a Heisman Trophy winner in Caleb Williams, and he's seemingly always had the Trojans in the hunt at the end of the season.

Yet, the Trojans have never made the CFP since its inception in 2014. They're 4-0 on this season, though, and ranked No. 12 in the nation. 

They welcome the No. 20 Ducks to the Coliseum this weekend for a big-time matchup between two former Pac-12 powers. 

"It's definitely an important game," Riley said on Tuesday, per Ryan Kartje of The Los Angeles Times. "There's no question about it."

Interestingly enough, though, Riley's players don't seem to feel the same way. Perhaps they're downplaying the matchup, but they are being rather laissez-faire about the stakes in this game.

"Eh, not really," quarterback Jayden Maiava said when asked if the Trojans have extra motivation to beat Oregon. "We're just kind of attacking it the same every single week."

Starting left tackle Elijah Paige seems to feel the same way.

"It's the exact same [this week]," Paige said. "We treat every opponent the exact same."

USC players taking a measured approach to game vs. Oregon 

That's a stunning disconnect between what the players are saying about this game and what the head coach is saying, but we can also be mature enough to walk and chew gum at the same time when evaluating these statements.

For Riley to ignore the enormity of the game would make him seem naive and perhaps even unprepared. For his players, though, it's important for them to stick to their routines and their weekly preparations.

Athletes fall back on their routines and the fundamentals in the biggest moments, so it does make sense that Maiava and Paige are treating this just like any other week on the schedule.

They must stay focused, and they can't allow the emotions of the moment to get the best of them and throw them off their game. The head coach has a little bit more leeway when it comes to things like that, because he's in more of a position to look at the bigger picture.

The bigger picture suggests that this is a massive game for USC, and a win or a loss, either way, will have CFP implications moving forward.