- Head coach Clay Helton recited a similar injury report as yesterday: DE Noah Jefferson (shoulder sprain - "very questionable"), DT Khaliel Rodgers (hamstring), C Toa Lobendahn (knee swelling - awaiting MRI results), WR Deontay Burnett (shoulder sprain) and John Plattenburg (concussion).
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Max Browne will start at quarterback again, but expect to see Sam Darnold enter for certain red zone and short yardage opportunities. Helton is looking for Browne to combine his "poise" with "productivity." - While Browne broke a long run (pictured), he is much more likely to make big plays with his arm, and he is looking for better success down the field this week than against Alabama. "I think you look back and there's probably two deep ball throws that are not only completions, they're momentum shifters," Browne said. "So you have to connect on those in all three phases: offensive line, my play, and then receivers down field. But just staying the course, leading my guys, and staying ready."
- The Crimson Tide took away Browne's top target, JuJu Smith-Schuster. "If that's the case, let's make Darreus Rogers a household name, and that's what we've got to do," the redshirt junior QB said. "We had flashes of that last week I think, but at the end of the day, it's not just like we're going to forget about [JuJu]. Nah, that's not the case. We're going to move them around and give them the ball, find situations to make plays and if it happens and we're in that situation, we'll spread the ball around. We've got a lot of playmakers."
- The defense kept the Trojans in the game for a half because the defensive line held up much better against the power run than most expected. Grad transfer NT Stevie Tu'ikolovatu played an important role with his ability to "hold the point," explained Helton. The head coach will want more of the same against Utah State, which is "a very good run team."
- The running will start with Aggies QB Kent Myers, who owns the school single-game rushing record for a quarterback. "I expect him to run a lot," said ILB Cam Smith. "He's gonna scramble and make anything he can get. He's a good guy, he's a good quarterback and he likes to use his feet so I'm expecting that a lot."
- Smith looked like his old self on Saturday, leading the Trojans with nine tackles, but he knows that the defense as a whole must clean up the mistakes. "The main thing I saw was we shot ourselves in the foot a lot," said the sophomore. "When they had those big plays, that was the main thing. We have a lot to look forward to, but there's definitely some things to work on."
- The Trojans were enjoying themselves on the practice field today. On the final play, CB Adoree' Jackson was swarmed by his defensive mates after knocking away a deep ball from Josh Imatorbhebhe. "I think the guys are responding fine," said the junior captain. "We're still out there practicing like we've been practicing. Nothing has really changed, we're still doing the same preparation. You don't really change in-season just because a game like that happens. We've got to do the same things coming in. Like Coach said, we prepared for it, our outcome didn't come out to how we prepared. The same preparation we did last week, we're going to do this week."
- Here is Helton who was mostly peppered with questions about the team's entrance:
