- In his first press conference of Pac-12 Student Awareness Week, head coach Steve Sarkisian highlighted senior captains Cody Kessler and Antwaun Woods who both graduated with their undergraduate degrees in May.
- In addition to being one of the most efficient quarterbacks in USC history, Kessler also excels in his service to the community. Last year, the redshirt senior, who is now pursuing a Masters of Communication Management, formed a special bond with a young cancer patient named Joey Rodriguez. Joey was officially adopted by the football team in October, and Kessler has gone above and beyond to make sure the brave young patient feels right at home as a member of the Trojan Family.
- Woods became the first member of his family to attend college when he stepped on USC's campus four years ago. In May, the redshirt senior defensive tackle crossed the stage at the Galen Center to become his family's first college graduate. Click here to watch a profile on Woods and the unwavering strength he inherited from his father who raised him as a single parent in Baldwin Village.
- On Saturday, the Trojans will face their first real test as they take on the ever-physical Cardinal. Last season, Sarkisian's first as head coach, the Trojans clinched a victory in the game's final moments with a 53-yard Andre Heidari field goal. This year, the head coach anticipates another competitive contest. "We've got a really good opponent coming to town in Stanford," Sarkisian said after Tuesday's practice. "They're a disciplined team, very well coached by David Shaw. It's been really a cool rivalry that's somewhat developed here over the last few years."
- "Every time we play it's always fun," Kessler added regarding the Cardinal match-up. "It's a great game, it's a great atmosphere and it's a great way to start off conference play. It's going to be a great test for us early. They're a great team, they pride themselves on how physical they are and watching their film, they're every bit of that again this year. It's going to be a tough challenge for our offensive line but I think they're ready."
- An encouraging statistic this early in the season is the 15 different receivers who have caught passes in USC's two games. Kessler believes this is one of the major strengths of this year's offense, and one that could make the rest of the season "really fun to watch." "We don't treat it as if there is a 1, 2 or 3," the quarterback said of the receiving corps' depth. "Whoever is in at that time is the guy."
- Junior linebacker Su'a Cravens played a major role in the last two epic USC/Stanford clashes, and expects the same brand of hard-hitting, grind-it-out football this weekend. "They're physical, they slow the game down and they play their own tempo," Cravens noted. "If you're not going to be as physical as them and match their physicality, it's going to be a long game."
- Cravens also highlighted the threat posed by Stanford's redshirt senior QB Kevin Hogan, who threw for 285 yards last year against USC. "They like to pass a lot more than they have in the past. Hogan is a good quarterback and he's a big guy who can move outside the pocket, so not only do we have to guard their big tight ends but we have to keep an eye on him scrambling."
- The key for the Trojan defense, which gave up 413 yards to the Cardinal last year, is aggression on first and second downs. "We've got to get off the field on third down and the best way to do that is win on first down, defensively," Sarkisian explained. "If they're going to run the football, we need to try and not give up the four and five yard runs...and when they throw the ball, we need to make sure we try and make the quarterback as uncomfortable as possible and be really sticky on the receivers."
- Senior cornerback Kevon Seymour tweaked his knee against Idaho, putting his status for the upcoming game in question. Freshman Iman Marshall took reps with the 1s in practice, and Sarkisian noted that the coaching staff is "taking a good long hard look at Isaiah Langley" to help on special teams, a player who has consistently impressed the staff through the first two weeks on the scout team.
- The No. 6 Trojans carry a high ranking and lofty expectations heading into the start of conference play but Sarkisian is focused on making sure his team takes the season one week at a time. "Right now, what we're focused on is winning a Pac-12 South championship, because none of those other aspirations that we have can happen unless we take care of that," explained the head coach. "That starts Saturday quite honestly. We need to try to get to 1-0 in conference play...It's a great challenge for us to start off this way and we're going to have to put our best foot forward to win the ball game."
- Here is video of Sarkisian after practice thanks to the OC Register's Michael Lev...
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Stanford Tuesday: Notes
September 01, 2015 | USC Ripsit Blog
Stanford Tuesday: Notes
It's Stanford week and USC is eager to face its first Pac-12 opponent this Saturday at the Coliseum. First, the Trojans endured a tough practice in the rain on Tuesday...
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