From the outside, it’s easy to see the changes at USC the past four months – from the hiring of new head coach Lincoln Riley, to the coaching staff he hired, to the influx of new players they have recruited since their arrival in Los Angeles.

And when the spring game rolls around in three weeks, new offensive and defensive schemes will be on display.

But there have been other shifts, too, that have occurred behind closed doors as Riley has tried to establish his own culture at USC.

“I’d say the biggest thing so far has just been accountability and it’s unconditional,” Trojans offensive lineman Andrew Vorhees said. “Whether guys are missing class or late to tutors or whatever it may be, it’s addressed and nothing goes unseen. That’s something that hasn’t necessarily been the case in the past here.”

USC’s previous shortcomings in this area have not been much of a secret. They have flared up in many a game in the form of senseless penalties and careless turnovers.

Asked what steps he has taken to create accountability, Riley doesn’t go in depth, joking the full answer would extend his Saturday morning Zoom press conference through the rest of the weekend.

But he does have a guiding philosophy that informs each policy.

“Playing football at a championship level involves being at the level in every single thing that you do,” Riley explained. “You can’t pick and choose as a player, as a coach which things you think matter because in reality, they all matter. This game’s that competitive, the margins are that thin, and so we approach everything the same way.”

That means responsibilities in both the athletic realm – from practices to weights to doctor’s appointments – and the academic – from class to tutoring sessions – are treated equally.

“If we ask you to do it, it’s valuable,” Riley continued. “There’s no leeway, there’s no excuses, there’s no ‘I thought’, there’s no ‘We do it now but when football season comes we don’t’ or ‘Now spring ball starts we don’t.’ That doesn’t matter. It’s the standard, it is what it is – every single person every day, and we’re going to be relentless about that.”

When asked how the players have responded to this, Riley chuckles a little as he measures his words.

“I mean like anytime you change things it’s going to take some time,” Riley said. “But the thing I will say, there’s been rapid progress. Little rough in the early going, much improved right now and it needs to continue to get better.”

For every stick, there must be a carrot. Riley and his staff have devised a way to reward those who buy in and show their commitment to the program.

For spring football, all players have started with a clean, cardinal helmet, sans the gold Trojan decal. But when the coaching staff agrees an individual has reached a certain criteria, he is “gold plated”, receiving his decal from former Trojans on staff like Taylor Mays or Lenny Vandermade in front of the team.

“We felt like that that decal should be earned, not just given because you got a spot on the roster,” Riley said. “So we laid out kind of a process, all-encompassing habits off the field, habits on the field, competitive nature, putting the team first, being accountable, being reliable.”

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So far, Riley estimates, USC has reached the low double-digits in terms of players who have been gold plated. Could there be a situation in which a player has a plain, cardinal helmet by the time of the season opener?

“I doubt we’re gonna put a player out there that hasn’t earned that in our program,” Riley said.