There was a moment last month, fresh in the aftermath of everything lost, for important perspective.

USC had just lost to Utah in the Pac-12 Championship Game, its Playoff dreams smashed amid so many mistakes on defense and a star quarterback gutting it out through a bad hamstring injury.

And there was first-year coach Lincoln Riley, taking heat in the postgame press conference. Ten minutes into questions of how and why it could’ve fallen apart, Riley heard a question that began with, “Congratulations on an incredible season…”

“I like this guy,” Riley joked amid the disappointment.

A year prior, USC won 4 games and fired its coach in the first month of the season. An absolute mess in every way imaginable.

Less than a year later, the Trojans were playing for a spot in the Playoff.

“Obviously there’s a much bigger picture and outlook here of the progress that’s been made in the last 12 months,” Riley said. “So we’re not going to walk around like this is some funeral. So much is going to reset now.”

Including recruiting, the lifeblood of every college football program.

USC is zeroing in on 3 key recruits Wednesday, the official National Signing Day — or, really, the final wrap of high school recruiting after December’s early signing period stole nearly all the thunder.

They are:

— Duce Robinson, the No. 1 tight end and No. 17 overall player, according to the 247Sports composite, who is is down to USC and Georgia.

— Rodrick Pleasant, the No. 9 cornerback and No.91  overall player — the fastest player in this year’s class who wants to run in the Paris Olympics — is down to USC, UCLA and Oregon.

— Walker Lyons, the No. 5 tight end and No. 123 overall player, who is down to Stanford and USC.

Landing any of those 3 would be a strong addition to USC’s No. 15 overall class. If that doesn’t sound like old-school USC recruiting, it’s not.

But this isn’t Reggie Bush’s college football anymore. The transfer portal can have a greater impact than high school recruiting — as shown by USC’s near Playoff run in 2022.

The Trojans, like last season, have a top-3 ranking in the transfer portal — and are among a handful of Power 5 programs that can make a push for the last 4-team Playoff in 2023. The others:

LSU

Brian Kelly and his staff are likely done with high school recruiting after landing the No. 6 overall class, which includes 5 players in the top 100.

LSU also has the No. 1-ranked transfer portal class, which includes impact starters LB Omar Speights (Oregon State), CBs Denver Harris (Texas A&M) and Zy Alexander (Southeastern Louisiana), and Edge Paris Stand (Arizona).

Kelly landed 2 critical high school wide receivers for QB Jayden Daniels that showed his ability to beat blue-blood programs in his backyard (Shelton Sampson Jr., of Baton Rouge, who chose LSU over Alabama) and in a hotly contested area (Jalen Brown of Miami, who chose LSU over Michigan).

It took LSU nearly a half season to find itself in 2022. It won’t take that long in 2023, especially with Daniels entrenched as the starting quarterback and team leader throughout the offseason — and another top-10 recruiting and transfer portal class.

LSU may have 1 more surprise Wednesday with DT Jamal Howard, a 3-star run stuffer who will choose between Miami, Michigan and LSU.

Florida State

It’s only a matter of time before FSU coach Mike Norvell starts hitting big with high school recruits. The Noles won 10 games in 2022, and have managed the portal as well as anyone over the past 2 seasons.

Norvell landed 5-star WR Hykeem Williams and 4-star OT Lucas Simmons, and got Day 1 starters in S Conrad Hussey and junior college Edge Jaden Jones. But that’s only a start, and a long way from the FSU heyday a decade ago.

Then there’s the portal, where Norvel signed the No. 3 cornerback (Fentrell Cypress of Virginia), the No.1 TE (Jaheim Bell of South Carolina), and No.2 OT (Jeremiah Beyers of UTEP). He also landed 3 defensive linemen — DE Gilbert Edmond (South Carolina), and DTs Braden Fiske (Western Michigan) and Darrell Jackson (Miami) — who graded at or above 9 out of 10 on the 247Sports transfer rating.

Penn State

The Lions won 11 games for the 4th time under coach James Franklin, and the combination of the last 2 recruiting classes and this year’s No.15-ranked class has them set up to challenge for the Big Ten championship and the Playoff.

Just when it looked like Franklin had evened off in Happy Valley after back-to-back seasons in 2020-21 produced an 11-11 record, he and his staff nailed the last 3 recruiting classes — and are now talented enough to compete with and beat Ohio State and Michigan.

Last year’s class alone produced 4 of college football’s future megastars: TBs Nick Singleton and Krytron Allen, LB Abdul Carter and DE Demeioun Robinson (transfer portal). Last year’s class also produced 5-star QB Drew Allar, the most talented quarterback in State College since Christian Hackenberg.

Allar will be surrounded by that young talent on offense, and the portal addition of Kent State WR Dante Cephus, who had 130 catches and 12 TDs in the last 2 seasons.

Texas A&M

First, a disclaimer: It can go horribly wrong again in College Station this fall. Any time you add Bob Petrino to the mix, it’s combustible — both good and bad.

But Petrino is a fantastic quarterbacks coach and play-caller, something the Aggies have desperately needed the past 2 seasons. You wanted coach Jimbo Fisher to walk away from the duties?

He did it the only way he possibly could: by bringing in a personality so strong, Fisher wouldn’t be able to meddle in the process for fear of the entire house collapsing.

This is an overly-talented team, even with the 20-plus defections to the portal. The No.13 class ranking includes 5-star RB Rueben Owens, and 6 players in the top 100.

The Aggies may not add anyone Wednesday, but the biggest additions were last year’s No.1 class, where 5-star QB Conner Weigman is primed for a breakout season under Petrino — as are the multitude of young defensive linemen recruited in the last 3 classes.

If Petrino gets the offense solved, the Aggies — who lost 5 games by a combined 19 points in 2022 — will be playing significant games in November.