Here ya go:
The players who returned from last season for USC have some scars remaining from the last time the Trojans tussled with Oregon State.
It was Donte Williams' second game as interim head coach last fall, and there was still hope at that point. Hope that the season could be salvaged in some way in the aftermath of Clay Helton's dismissal, hope that the stirring performance at Washington State the week prior was some harbinger of what could follow.
Instead, the Beavers delivered a heavy dose of reality in their visit to the Coliseum, rolling to a 45-27 win -- after leading 42-17 early in the fourth quarter -- for their first road win at USC since 1960. It was the first of several embarrassing blowouts to follow, many before a dwindling and despondent home crowd on the way to a 4-8 finish.
So is that on the minds of those returning players as the No. 7-ranked Trojans (3-0) visit Oregon State (3-0) on Saturday evening in Corvallis, Ore. (6:30 p.m. PT on Pac-12 Network)?
"100 percent. Same thing with Stanford. I know that's in the past, but man, that game is like a revenge," defensive lineman Tuli Tuipulotu said this week.
RELATED: Scouting the opponent: Beavers' rushing attack toughest test yet for USC | PODCAST: Analyst Max Browne previews USC-Oregon State
As head coach Lincoln Riley sort of bluntly noted, however, there are a lot of those games this year that carry that same storyline.
"We have already had one and there'll be more opportunities kind of in that same realm. I think this is our team now and even if you weren't somebody that was here before, you still take pride in we're all USC Trojans now," Riley said. "So we're not going to sit there and overstate it, overdo it. We've gotta move on and I think we have. But at the same time, getting back to playing the kind of ball that we expect to play in this conference is important to us. So we're not going to be posting it all over the facility, but not gonna shy away about it either."
Tuipulotu hasn't. He watched that 2021 loss to the Beavers by himself on Monday, picking at that scar, so to speak.
"I had to watch the game from last year, I had to. I had to watch that game. It was tough to watch," he said.
Ditto for linebacker Ralen Goforth, who had already watched it once when he met with reporters Tuesday and said he was planning to take another look as well.
"It was [tough], it was. But at the end of the day, if you want to be great you've got to watch the tough things," he said. "Just a lot of busts. I remember, there were some calls I saw that I kind of have retained. I was like, oh shoot, man, this guy's supposed to be here, this guy's supposed to be there, but I'm looking forward to the matchup this year."
So are Trojans fans, who have very easily put 2021 out of mind while embracing a distinctly different USC team and trajectory with Riley at the helm.
These Trojans have won their first three games by an average margin of 31 points, but the unbeaten Beavers should provide the toughest test yet, and there's some thought this game could be the most accurate litmus test -- more so than the likes of Rice, Fresno State or even Stanford -- as to what this team is.
If it is what most expect -- the Trojans are a 5.5-point road favorite in the battle of unbeatens -- then it should look dramatically different very quickly from that last clash with Oregon State.
"Not necessarily toward Oregon State or any particular opponent, but I just think, part of the excitement and the challenge that everybody that's in this program right now accepted was let's do what we gotta do to get this thing going the way it should," Riley said. "And some of that involves playing better against people that maybe you haven't played as good against at times in the past. ... We're focused on the future but not [with] a blind eye to the past."
With that, let's get into the weekly TrojanSports.com roundtable, where our staff weighs in with perspective on the top storylines and gives its predictions.
Roundtable: Staff perspective and predictions for USC-Oregon State
The TrojanSports.com staff gives its thoughts on the storylines of the week and predictions for USC-Oregon State.
USC.rivals.com
The players who returned from last season for USC have some scars remaining from the last time the Trojans tussled with Oregon State.
It was Donte Williams' second game as interim head coach last fall, and there was still hope at that point. Hope that the season could be salvaged in some way in the aftermath of Clay Helton's dismissal, hope that the stirring performance at Washington State the week prior was some harbinger of what could follow.
Instead, the Beavers delivered a heavy dose of reality in their visit to the Coliseum, rolling to a 45-27 win -- after leading 42-17 early in the fourth quarter -- for their first road win at USC since 1960. It was the first of several embarrassing blowouts to follow, many before a dwindling and despondent home crowd on the way to a 4-8 finish.
So is that on the minds of those returning players as the No. 7-ranked Trojans (3-0) visit Oregon State (3-0) on Saturday evening in Corvallis, Ore. (6:30 p.m. PT on Pac-12 Network)?
"100 percent. Same thing with Stanford. I know that's in the past, but man, that game is like a revenge," defensive lineman Tuli Tuipulotu said this week.
RELATED: Scouting the opponent: Beavers' rushing attack toughest test yet for USC | PODCAST: Analyst Max Browne previews USC-Oregon State
As head coach Lincoln Riley sort of bluntly noted, however, there are a lot of those games this year that carry that same storyline.
"We have already had one and there'll be more opportunities kind of in that same realm. I think this is our team now and even if you weren't somebody that was here before, you still take pride in we're all USC Trojans now," Riley said. "So we're not going to sit there and overstate it, overdo it. We've gotta move on and I think we have. But at the same time, getting back to playing the kind of ball that we expect to play in this conference is important to us. So we're not going to be posting it all over the facility, but not gonna shy away about it either."
Tuipulotu hasn't. He watched that 2021 loss to the Beavers by himself on Monday, picking at that scar, so to speak.
"I had to watch the game from last year, I had to. I had to watch that game. It was tough to watch," he said.
Ditto for linebacker Ralen Goforth, who had already watched it once when he met with reporters Tuesday and said he was planning to take another look as well.
"It was [tough], it was. But at the end of the day, if you want to be great you've got to watch the tough things," he said. "Just a lot of busts. I remember, there were some calls I saw that I kind of have retained. I was like, oh shoot, man, this guy's supposed to be here, this guy's supposed to be there, but I'm looking forward to the matchup this year."
So are Trojans fans, who have very easily put 2021 out of mind while embracing a distinctly different USC team and trajectory with Riley at the helm.
These Trojans have won their first three games by an average margin of 31 points, but the unbeaten Beavers should provide the toughest test yet, and there's some thought this game could be the most accurate litmus test -- more so than the likes of Rice, Fresno State or even Stanford -- as to what this team is.
If it is what most expect -- the Trojans are a 5.5-point road favorite in the battle of unbeatens -- then it should look dramatically different very quickly from that last clash with Oregon State.
"Not necessarily toward Oregon State or any particular opponent, but I just think, part of the excitement and the challenge that everybody that's in this program right now accepted was let's do what we gotta do to get this thing going the way it should," Riley said. "And some of that involves playing better against people that maybe you haven't played as good against at times in the past. ... We're focused on the future but not [with] a blind eye to the past."
With that, let's get into the weekly TrojanSports.com roundtable, where our staff weighs in with perspective on the top storylines and gives its predictions.
