The Sports Report: End the USC-Notre Dame series? Is Lincoln Riley for real?

Howdy, I’m your host, Houston Mitchell. Let’s get right to the news.

From Bill Plaschke: The last time Los Angeles got a good look at Lincoln Riley, he was getting blown out by his biggest rival.

The last time USC fans watched Lincoln Riley in their backyard, he was getting embarrassed by a coach who didn’t even want to be there.

The last time the Trojan family surrounded Lincoln Riley with real hope, he was humiliated in his biggest game of the year despite being carried by the eventual No. 1 pick in the NFL draft.

The last time Lincoln Riley played a game that really mattered, it was UCLA 38, USC 20, honeymoon done.

So what now?

No, his job is not in jeopardy. Put those rumors to rest. USC did not hand him full program control and $10 million a year just to fire him after three tries. Heck, even Lane Kiffin was given more than three seasons.....

....But witness his comments last week on the Notre Dame game. Citing a need to play an easier nonconference schedule so they can have a smoother ride into the 12-team playoff, he opened the door to actually ending the 98-year old rivalry and…

Stop right there. Was he joking? No, he was not joking.

When asked about continuing arguably the most sentimental of USC rivalries, he told reporters: “I would love to. I would love to. I know it means a lot to a lot of people… Now, if you get in a position where you’ve got to make a decision on what’s best for SC to help us win a national championship versus keeping that, shoot, then you gotta look at it.”

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DODGERS

From Jack Harris: In a division race that has grown tighter than ever looked possible earlier in this year, the Dodgers managed to hold serve this weekend.

Just barely.

With a 3-2 defeat of the Oakland Athletics on Sunday, the Dodgers stayed 4 ½ games ahead of the San Diego Padres and five games ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League West, finally holding their ground in what was their first road series win since late June.

“I’m a little more in tune with it,” manager Dave Roberts said of the division standings, where the Dodgers’ once-nine-game lead has been trimmed in half. “But still the focus is on us just playing better baseball.”

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Freddie Freeman’s son returns home from the hospital

Dodgers box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

ANGELS

Griffin Canning pitched five stingy innings for his first win in six weeks and the Angels held off the New York Mets 3-2 on Sunday.

Matt Thaiss and Kevin Pillar each had a sacrifice fly for the Angels, who knocked the Mets out of playoff position in the National League by winning the final two in a three-game series.

The Angels’ bullpen gave up two hits over four scoreless innings, with Roansy Contreras working a perfect ninth to earn his second save.

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Angels box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

RAMS-CHARGERS

From Gary Klein and Anthony De Leon: No reason for the Rams to panic. Unless star receiver Puka Nacua’s right knee requires more than an ice pack

No reason for the Chargers to celebrate. Unless star quarterback Justin Herbert’s right foot heals ahead of schedule.

Sunday’s joint practice between the teams at the Chargers’ facility in El Segundo revealed much about some things, little about others and nothing about new kickoff strategies.

The Rams came equipped with quarterback Matthew Stafford but a disjointed offensive line because of injuries that sidelined three starters during training camp. The Chargers were without Herbert, who remains in a boot because of a plantar fascia injury.

A Chargers’ first-team defense that features pass rushers Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack and safety Derwin James intercepted several passes, tipped others and forced fumbles.

On a day when no tackling was allowed, there were instances of hard contact. Nacua came down hard on the turf while trying to make a contested catch in the end zone. He also absorbed a blow on a jet sweep. Nacua finished the practice on the sideline in uniform but with the ice pack on his knee.

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Tre’Davious White inspires remodeled Rams secondary before even playing a game

THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1921 — Radio station KDKA and announcer Harold Arlin provide the first broadcast of a major league game as the Pirates beat the Phillies 8-5 at Pittsburgh.

1936 — At the Berlin Olympics, Jesse Owens wins his third of four gold medals, winning the 200-meter race in an Olympic-record 20.7 seconds.

1954 — The first election for the Boxing Hall of Fame is held. Twenty-four fighters are elected, with the most noteworthy from the modern era Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis and Henry Armstrong. Fifteen are selected from the pioneer era including John L. Sullivan, Gentleman Jim Corbett and Jack Johnson.

1967 — The Denver Broncos beat the Detroit Lions, 13-7, in a preseason game, for the first AFL victory over an NFL team.

1984 — American Joan Benoit wins the first Olympic marathon for women in 2:24:52, finishing 400 meters ahead of Norway’s Grete Waitz.

1991 — Sergei Bubka becomes the first to clear 20 feet outdoors in the pole vault, breaking his own world record by a half-inch at the Galan track meet in Malmo, Sweden.

2006 — Warren Moon becomes the first Black quarterback to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio; joined by Troy Aikman, John Madden, Rayfield Wright, Harry Carson and Reggie White.

2007 — Tom Glavine earns his 300th victory in an 8-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs.

2007 — Lorena Ochoa wins the Women’s British Open — the first women’s professional tournament played at venerable St. Andrews — for her first major title.

2012 — Jamaica’s Usain Bolt claims consecutive gold medals in the marquee track and field event at the Summer Games in London. Only about fifth-fastest of the eight runners to the halfway mark, Bolt erases that deficit and overtakes a star-studded field to win the 100-meter dash final in 9.63 seconds, an Olympic record that lets him join Carl Lewis as the only men to win the event twice.

2012 — Britain’s Andy Murray cruises past Roger Federer 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 in the Olympic tennis singles final at Wimbledon. Serena and Venus Williams win the doubles title, as Serena becomes tennis’ first double-gold medalist at an Olympics since Venus won singles and doubles at the 2000 Sydney Games. Ben Ainslie earns another gold medal in the Finn class to become the most successful sailor in Olympic history.

2013 — Alex Rodriguez is suspended through 2014 (211 games) and All-Stars Nelson Cruz, Jhonny Peralta and Everth Cabrera are banned 50 games apiece when Major League Baseball disciplines 13 players in a drug case.

2014 — The San Antonio Spurs hire WNBA star Becky Hammon as an assistant coach, making her the first woman to join an NBA coaching staff.

Compiled by the Associated Press