Lincoln Riley said USC’s issues are self-inflicted. He believes the Trojans, at their best, can beat anyone. And after a 50-49 win over Cal on Saturday, Riley still believes USC can win the Pac-12.

“I believe this team can win this league. Hell yeah, I do. I know we can,” Riley said. “We’ve got some fun, exciting challenges ahead. We know that.”

USC sits at 7-2 on the season. Saturday’s victory snapped a two-game losing skid and kept the Trojans right in the thick of the Pac-12 title race. At 5-1 in league play, the Trojans still control their own destiny and sit in a position to challenge for a spot in the league’s title game.

Next week, USC welcomes No. 5 Washington to the Coliseum.

The following week, USC travels to No. 8 Oregon.

USC closes the season against UCLA at home.

Those teams are a combined 19-3 to this point in the season.

“This team’s good is definitely good enough to beat anybody,” Riley said. “We’re not getting our good consistently enough to play well enough to separate in some of these games.

“We’ve got to all ban together. We’ve got to all keep pounding the rock. We’ve got to all keep getting better because it’s there. Some of our mistakes … the good is so good, and some of the stretches offensively, some of the stretches defensively are just outright dominant.”

Riley referenced USC’s 5-1 mark multiple times. He said to be at this stage in the year with that record in what he believes is the best conference in college football is a testament to the team’s talent and the team’s fight.

“We’ve got some work to do here,” he said. “But can we do it? Damn right, we can.”