Kirk Herbstreit saw what USC head coach Lincoln Riley alluded to. At points this season for USC, the weight of expectation was a bit too much.

On Saturday’s College GameDay broadcast from James Madison, Herbstreit and the rest of the crew talked about Caleb Williams as he approaches what very well could be his final game for USC. The Trojans have lost four of their last five to fall out of the Pac-12 title race, setting up a finale at the Coliseum that feels somewhat unceremonious.

Williams could declare for the 2024 NFL Draft. If he does so, he could opt to sit out the team’s bowl game. Saturday against UCLA could be his final game.

Pat McAfee said Williams was great for college football, even if he didn’t have a chance to play in the College Football Playoff.

“Nobody embodies the direction of that position — with college and NFL football — more, with his physical skillset, than Caleb Williams,” Herbstreit said. “When you win the Heisman as an underclassman, there’s a reason there’s only been one guy that’s ever won two Heisman Trophies.

“It’s because the press and the media and the social media and the expectations are almost unrealistic. And I think Caleb Williams, at times, going back to the game at South Bend, pressed. He tried to live up to what everybody thought of him, where he’s the magic man, can do everything. And there’s a tendency when you do that to put yourself in a position where you’re turning the football over.”

Williams and the Trojans turned the ball over five times in a 48-20 loss to Notre Dame. That game started a downward spiral for USC.

“It is what it is,” Herbstreit said. “But it doesn’t take away from what he’s done and how talented he is physically.”

Williams has been named an All-American, won the Pac-12’s Offensive Player of the Year award, and obviously he has the Heisman Trophy sitting at home.

In two years with USC, Williams has thrown for 7,786 yards, run for another 544, and scored 92 touchdowns with only nine interceptions. In his three-year career, he has 119 touchdowns with a 66.6% completion rate, a per-pass average of 9.2 yards gained, and an interception rate of just 1.2%. He has been exceptional.

But the CFP has alluded him. Williams also hasn’t won a conference championship. The defenses he has been paired with play a huge hand in that. As a starter, he has been a part of nine losses; his teams have averaged 31 points a game in those nine losses.

USC hosts UCLA at the Coliseum at 12:30 p.m. PT on ABC.