On whether he watched the Michigan vs. Arkansas State game

I didn’t watch it live. I didn’t. I knew I was gonna watch it plenty. So yeah, watched some of the others. I flipped back and forth to see what the score was, but I didn’t sit there and study it. I tried to try to have a little bit more of a normal day.

On having his younger players play against Michigan

I think it helps us having played the LSU game. I mean, that wasn’t a, obviously, that wasn’t a full road game, but at times, those neutral games can kind of feel like it a little bit. And so I think this team, having been in a big time atmosphere, is certainly helpful. Now it’s going to be, it’s different, right? When there’s not anybody cheering when you make a play, and so, or just a very few, there’ll be certainly, I know we’ll squeeze as many in there as we can, but so, yeah, that part’s different. I think it’s you got to have a lot of poise. You got to have an incredible amount of trust in your communication. I think always when you get in these environments, your communication, your operation, have got to be really, really good, because they’re going to challenge you on top of the crowd. I mean, just a really good football team with a lot of really good players on the other side.

On USC playing in its first Big Ten game

I don’t think you can ignore it. It’s a big game. I mean, it is. It’s for a lot of reasons. I mean, in any year, it would be a big game. But you go first Big Ten matchup, you’re taking arguably the two most iconic brands in the conference, and two of the most iconic brands in the sport and you pair them up together and I think probably fitting that we’re doing it at their place. Being that they’ve obviously been in the Big Ten forever. And so it’s cool, man. I mean, it is. It’s cool. It’s a great opportunity. And so I don’t think there’s any harm in acknowledging that. Now, you know what it takes to go play well, and that is going to be the same recipe that it takes to go play well in any game like this. And so we’ve got to be able to lock in and go execute it. But yeah, I mean, you got to appreciate it. What a great opportunity for us, kind of being the newbie here in the league, and to get chance go up there and play the defending national champions.

On Michigan

Well, they’re like most teams that have had a run of great years and then had obviously a tremendous year last year. You know that what you’re judged on is so high. I mean, this is still like — make no mistake about it, this is still a very, very, very good football team, and anybody that thinks they’re not as crazy. All right? This is, without a doubt, one of the best defenses in the country. They have NFL personnel on both sides of the ball all over the place, really good coaching staff, crazy experience. I mean, this is a great team that’ll that’ll be a big challenge. Obviously, we know they’re looking at a quarterback change here. Defensively, and so you know, certainly got to be ready for all things there. But we know the player and athlete that Orji is. We actually, I remember him coming out of high school, and so we have a lot of respect for him, and the weapons that they have around them, their ability to run the ball, they ran it very well last year, last week. Elite tight end, elite backs. I mean, they have tremendous players offensively and then defensively. I mean, it’s pretty obvious. Really good group, tremendous defensive line. They’re really good at all levels. Got one of the best corners in the game. I mean, it’s what you would expect when you go play the defending national champions — got a really good team, and it’ll be a big time challenge.

On playing at Michigan Stadium

I love the road, man, always do. They’re the best. And I’ve always said that no matter where I coach, and I’ve been lucky to coach at some great places that have some great home venues and home field advantages. And this certainly stacks right up there, obviously, being able to coach here at USC, and being able to coach, you know, at the Coliseum, as good as it gets in terms of home games. But there’s just something about going on the road. Man, they’re the most special games. I think the ones you deep down, look forward to the most. And so I’ve always appreciated getting a chance to coach in some of these other elite venues and against great opponents. And so this will be another one to put on the list, and one I’m very much looking forward to.

On handling the physicality of the Big Ten

I have a lot of confidence. But it’s also a really big challenge. I mean, I feel great about our opportunity to go handle it well, but it’ll take all we got to go handle it well. I mean, there’s no question about it. I mean, this, both this team, and certainly throughout the rest of the league, there’s a lot of really good teams in this league, a lot of really good teams on our schedule, a lot of teams that are really strong on the fronts, on both sides of the ball. So you know, we’re going to get challenged there week after week, and we’ve got to be ready to rise up the challenge and make sure that that they’re getting a big, a big damn challenge when they play us, right? And that’s what it’s all about. So, yeah, you’re just gonna have to be ready every single week. You could just, you feel it, you know it. And it’s our ability to do it one game here, one game here, there. Like, that’s great. But I think ultimately, a big part of our season will be determined on are we able to do it week in and week out and maintain that physicality on both sides?

On the keys to victory for USC

I don’t know that it’s anything magical. I mean, it’s the things that typically in road football that you need to do well. You got to go do well in the turnover department. I mean, you always point to that. And I think a lot of times in these games, teams that are able to run the football and teams that are able to control the run — that’s the recipe for pretty good football all the time, especially when you’re playing a really good opponent. So there’s obviously going to be a lot of other key things that will need to do well, but those, you’d have to put those up there pretty high on the list.

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