- On the injury front, CB Kevon Seymour continues to get more work in, but he needs to be running more fluidly to get the nod for Saturday, according to head coach Steve Sarkisian.
- First and foremost, defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox took responsibility for his side of the ball failing to meet expectations against Stanford. "All of it is going to come down to the down-in, down-out execution, and we didn't do a good enough job of that. It all starts with the coaches, and we've got to go out and give those guys the best chance to succeed."
- "Execute" is the buzz word running through the team this week, and it starts on defense. "Playing defense, you don't have leeway to make a critical mistake, especially against a good team," said Wilcox. "It's every single play, it's the consistency, that's what we need to find."
- Wilcox was as disappointed as anyone about the performance that his unit put on tape against Stanford. "It's unacceptable how we played and that's why we come back and meet and go back to work. I know our guys are going to come back and fight, and we all expect to play better than that, there's no doubt."
- Among the issues, the Trojans need to generate more of a consistent pass rush. "For us, we've got to continue to improve in that area," said Wilcox. "You pick and choose your spots on pressuring, and sometimes you want to be able to rush with four guys, and sometimes you're going to bring five or more. We did both, and we just weren't effective enough in making him uncomfortable."
- Moving on to this week's opponent, Arizona State, Sarkisian said: "I like the frame of mind of the team right now. I think they're chomping at the bit to get back on the field and compete and play. We're going to need a quality effort. The more we continue to watch Arizona State, they're a good football team...We're definitely going to have our work cut out for us on Saturday night."
- Here is Sarkisian after practice on the defense, freshmen DL Noah Jefferson and RB Dominic Davis, and more:
