On Saturday evening, the USC football team will return home to the Coliseum to host Ohio State. After an ugly loss at Wisconsin last week, the Trojans are desperate for a victory to get their season back on track.

The game will be the first ever meeting between head coaches Lincoln Riley and Ryan Day. The two have notably similar origin stories, but have gone in very different directions over the past few years.

Riley, who had quickly risen up the coaching ranks as an offensive coordinator, was handed the keys to a blue blood program before the age of 40 when legendary Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops retired in 2017. Two years later, Day—also an offensive mind and also not yet 40—took over at Ohio State following the retirement of Urban Meyer.

In each of their first five years as head coaches, both Riley and Day won multiple conference titles, made the College Football Playoff three times, and developed several star quarterbacks. Both, however, were not quite able to get over the hump and win a national championship.

Over the past few years, however, the two’s careers have been trending in opposite directions. Riley is just 24-17 in his last 41 games at USC, and is currently very much on the hot seat. Day, on the other hand, finally won a title in 2024, and has still never lost more than two games in a season as a head coach.

When they face off on Saturday, it will be a battle of two coaches with similar background stories but very different current situations. Riley will be fighting for his job at USC, while Day will be looking to take Ohio State to the College Football Playoff for the sixth time in eight years.