Charles C. Riley, also known as "Charlie" (born c. 1906, date of death unknown) was an American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 player and coach. He was born in Indianapolis, Indiana

Indianapolis, Indiana

Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...

.

Riley was the starting quarterback

Quarterback

Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...

 and punt returner

Punt returner

Punt returner is a position on special teams in American football.-Description:The role of a punt returner is to catch the ball after it is punted and to give his team good field position by returning it. Before catching the punted ball, the returner must assess the situation on the field while...

 for most of the 1927 season at the University of Notre Dame

Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is the football team of the University of Notre Dame. The team is currently coached by Brian Kelly.Notre Dame competes as an Independent at the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision level, and is a founding member of the Bowl Championship Series coalition. It is an...

. He is mostly remembered for his last game with the team—a controversial 7–6 victory at USC

University of Southern California Trojans football

The USC Trojans football program, established in 1888, represents the University of Southern California in college football. USC is a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I FBS and the Pacific-12 Conference . The Trojans have been a football powerhouse throughout NCAA...

 before the largest crowd ever to witness a football game at that time (estimated to be 120,000 in attendance).

While clinging to the one-point lead late in the game, Riley fielded a USC punt at his own goal line and appeared to fumble it out of the end zone, which would have given the Trojans a safety and an 8–7 lead. But the play was ruled a muff

Muffed punt

In American football, a muffed punt is defined as "touching of the ball prior to possessing the ball."A muffed punt occurs when there is an "uncontrolled touch" of the football by a player on the returning team after it is punted...

, and therefore a touchback

Touchback

In American football, a touchback is a ruling which is made and signaled by an official when the ball becomes dead behind or above a goal line and the team who is attacking that goal line is responsible for the ball being there. Responsibility is determined by which team gave the ball the impetus...

. Notre Dame would hang on for the win.

In 1930, Riley was hired by fellow Notre Dame alum Tom Lieb to be his assistant football coach at Loyola Los Angeles

Loyola Marymount Lions

The Loyola Marymount Lions are the athletic teams that represent Loyola Marymount University, a Jesuit institution in Los Angeles, California. The school competes in NCAA Division I, with its primary affiliation in the West Coast Conference, an organization consisting solely of...

. One year later, Riley became the head football coach for the University of New Mexico and remained there for three years, but posted a disappointing record of 7–13–3.