With USC's regular season over and the Trojans on an unusual final bye week while the rest of college football plays on, coach Lincoln Riley has been able to turn his full focus to the search for his next defensive coordinator.

Riley expounded more on the criteria he's looking for in the position while talking on the Trojans Live radio show Monday night.

"You certainly always have lists, you certainly always have people in mind for various positions as there's just going to be natural ebbs and flows that way," Riley said. "There's a lot of research that gets done at this point on some of these top-tier [candidates] -- whether it's in college, whether it's in the NFL, wherever it's at. I mean, this is USC -- you're going to have a chance to go hire just about anybody that you want. So we certainly don't want to eliminate anyone, but we also want people that have a proven track record and people that have done this at a high level and have showed a consistent level of excellence.

"And then I think also with that, being here two years now, I think the other piece that we can't miss on is the fit, right? USC is a special place, it's also a very unique place. ... This is a really, really unique and special situation -- that's what makes it great, but you also have to find the right fit. You've got to find the right fit in players, you've got to find the right fit in coaches, and certainly with this hire, their expertise, their ability to come in and impact our program, certainly their fit and their desire to be part of what we're building here is a huge factor."

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Riley fired former defensive coordinator Alex Grinch on Nov. 5, though the staff shakeup didn't do anything to stem the downward spiral the season had become, as USC wrapped up its schedule Saturday with a dispiriting 38-20 loss to rival UCLA in the Coliseum.

With that, the Trojans went from 6-0 and ranked in the top 10 to 7-5 and awaiting word on what mid-tier bowl game they'll play in next month.

But for the coaching staff, nothing has slowed down with the early signing period for HS recruits less than a month away and the transfer portal set to open Dec. 4.

"There's a lot to be done. Your regular season ends one day and then you're right into so much more that's going to shape next year and the coming years. That's been our focus here the last 48 [hours]," Riley said.

The USC players had Sunday off and then came in for meetings Monday afternoon. USC has now scheduled media availability this week, so barring a press conference to announce a new defensive coordinator, Riley's comments on Trojans Live are the last he'll make publicly for a while.

He noted that his staff is on the road recruiting while he works on the biggest task -- the DC hire.

"We were up here as a staff, had several recruits in on Sunday, which was great to connect with them. Our coaches are now out on the road recruiting. We've missed that a little bit with the bye week being so late, so a lot of the assistants are out [on the road] right now," Riley said. "We've had a lot going on here the last 48 hours -- a lot of meetings with players, certainly starting to take a look ahead at, one, at bowl prep, and then two, naturally with the defensive coordinator position open, certainly starting to look ahead to that, which that obviously is going to be a very important hire for our program."