Notre Dame Wednesday: Notes

The Trojans got in their second-to-last practice in before flying to South Bend tomorrow afternoon.

Full injury report, per USC head coach Clay Helton: LT Toa Lobendahn (pectoral strain), DL Rasheem Green (held out for precautionary reasons), DB Isaiah Langley (illness), DT Josh Fatu (concussion protocol, out for Notre Dame), LB Porter Gustin (toe, bicep, out for Notre Dame), RB Stephen Carr (foot, doubtful for Notre Dame).

With Fatu's injury and senior DT Kenny Bigelow's retirement, Helton called the team "a little light" in terms of depth on the defensive line. He explained that he's brought freshmen Jay Tufele and Jake Lichtenstein off the scout team to get extra reps in the case that they're needed, but said he'd prefer to preserve their redshirts.

Freshman DT Brandon Pili (pictured) will see an increased role against Notre Dame with Fatu and Bigelow out. He took extra reps on the blocking sleds after practice, explaining he wants to get his cardio up. "I feel like there's a big burden on me," Pili said. "Everyone's depending on me to step up and fill the role of the nose guard, the heart of the defense."

Pili acknowledged that the extra pressure is "stressful" but that he feels confident in his athleticism. "As a freshman I'm really heavy, so it's going to be hard to move me," he said. "I've been practicing playing double teams all week."

Helton also expressed confidence in Pili, who he called "a 340-pound dancing polar bear" earlier this season. "I thought he played excellent at Utah," Helton said of the Anchorage, Alaska native. "He holds the point of attack. I think that you see when you have a big man holding that gap, where there's two offensive linemen that are having to double team, who ends up having a great game? Cam Smith. You look at 16 tackles, that means a nose tackle is doing his job."

Alongside Pili, defensive linemen Malik Dorton and Liam Jimmons saw increased reps at today's practice. Dorton has keyed in on Notre Dame's "physical offensive line" and "great quarterback" as the biggest challenges facing the team.

Sophomore DB Jack Jones also complimented Notre Dame's quarterback, Brandon Wimbush, who's averaging 156.4 pass yards and 80.4 rush yards per game. "We've got to play physical and fast the whole game," Jones said. "If we send too much pressure, he can air us out. If we sit back and wait, he can run for 80 yards if he wanted to. It's going to be a very tough game."

Each player noted what an honor it is to be a part of such a historic rivalry, a feeling Helton has tried to instill in them since they arrived at USC. "This is the greatest intersectional rivalry there is in college football," said Helton. "I want them to understand what it means to win this game, to keep the Shillelagh, to have your year of your team on that board in our team meeting room under 'Victories over Notre Dame.' That's an important thing. That's leaving your mark."

The Trojans will hold one more practice tomorrow morning before flying to South Bend.

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