Interview highlights following USC's win vs. UCLA ...
Justin Davis
--on being a workhorse in the fourth quarter
"That’s what Coach Helton asked me. He told me to run the ball, and run it downhill, hard-nosed football. It feels good that he has my back with everything. He has so much confidence in me. When he asks me to do something I’m going to do it to the best of my ability. The second-to-last drive he put it upon the O-line and me to finish the game. I think we ran the same play five times in a row and they couldn’t stop it."
--on being underrated
"I know I had some games where people are thinking, what is he doing? I’ve been through a really hard road to this point and it feels good that the O-line is allowing me to run behind these big holes and use my instincts. Towards the beginning (of the season) I wasn’t getting the yards that I wanted to."
--on how he’s grown this season
"I kind of slowly learned over the years to be more patient. But this year I really know I have to be patient. It’s working out. Patience is the key. It allows everything to open up and allows the O-linemen to do their job and holes open. That’s one of the things I had to work on. I’m becoming more of a football player using my head rather than my legs. I could see how they’re lining up, I could see where the ball is supposed to go. I’ve been working on the mental part of the game and it’s been working out for me."
--on how the team rebounded from being 3-3
"I can’t lie. I can say that we were kind of confused. We really didn’t have a team identity. When Coach Helton came in he instilled this confidence in us. The leaders rounded us all up and we said we can’t play any lackluster football anymore because the goal is still ahead of us. We dug in and played hard and went undefeated in the South."
--on having a chance to play in the Rose Bowl
"It was really hard to think about it back then but now that it actually ahead of us, it makes us want to play that much harder. It feels so good that it’s right there. We just got to take advantage of it."
--on playing Stanford again
"We all remember that loss, especially since it was the fits of our season. We know what they're going to bring to the table. I know they’ve been playing good ball lately, but we’ve been playing good ball lately. Its going to be a really good matchup."
--on what will be the key offensively vs. the Cardinal
"We got to match how physical they play. They’re going to be coming downhill and we just got to match it. I think our O-line is fully capable of doing that but it starts at practice."
Nico Falah
--on replacing Khaliel Rodgers
"I was really nervous at first, but I prepared like a starter ever since I started playing here. It all paid off today. … Playing center helped me a lot because I know the whole playbook, every position on the O-line. Wherever I go, tackle, guard, center, I feel comfortable at because Coach Connelly put me at center."
--on what the O-line’s game plan was vs. UCLA
"Pounding, running the ball, that was a big emphasis this week, since Coach Helton took over also. We finally proved it today with running power on the last drive to finish the game."
Toa Lobendahn
--on beating UCLA
"Just to end the streak is awesome. To see my boy Nico go out there and ball out was amazing."
--on what’s changed under Clay Helton
"We just love playing for him, honestly. Don’t really want to have to go through a coaching change, to earn another guy’s trust. We love playing for him and we’d like to keep it that way."
Adoree’ Jackson
--on the secondary’s mentality coming off a rough performance vs. Oregon
"We didn’t want to worry about what the man next to us was doing. We figured we got to rely on our brother, we got to trust that he’s going to do his job and we just got to do ours. Today, we did our job collectively. … We always talk about, don’t worry about the outside sources."
--on whether Helton should be promoted to head coach
"No doubt in my mind. Coach Helton is a player guy and we’re behind him every step of the way. I know the guys said they didn’t want to (see) what happened two years ago with Coach Orgeron. They said you’re going to regret it if you let this one slip away as well, so just do this for Coach and do it for us as a team. I’m down for Coach Helton, 2016."
--on whether he believes he’s having a good season now
"I feel like it’s the same, I’m just doing alright. I’m always a hard grader on myself and my performance. No matter what may happen, if I end up scoring three touchdowns, its still going to be alright to me I just want to be consistent out there with my play.
--on how he counseled Biggie Marshall after the Oregon game
"I told him to forget about it and put it in the past. We watched this film on (Malcolm) Butler from the Patriots. Odell Beckham caught that pass on him and he (Butler) said, I just have to get back to the next play, I just had to get a feel for the game. I told Biggie to keep that in mind. You might get me one play but it doesn’t matter, but it doesn’t matter. You just got to keep on fighting. And that’s what he did. …
"I told him, Just remember, you just got to stay poised and stay confident in yourself, no matter what. You got the next down to play."
Justin Davis
--on being a workhorse in the fourth quarter
"That’s what Coach Helton asked me. He told me to run the ball, and run it downhill, hard-nosed football. It feels good that he has my back with everything. He has so much confidence in me. When he asks me to do something I’m going to do it to the best of my ability. The second-to-last drive he put it upon the O-line and me to finish the game. I think we ran the same play five times in a row and they couldn’t stop it."
--on being underrated
"I know I had some games where people are thinking, what is he doing? I’ve been through a really hard road to this point and it feels good that the O-line is allowing me to run behind these big holes and use my instincts. Towards the beginning (of the season) I wasn’t getting the yards that I wanted to."
--on how he’s grown this season
"I kind of slowly learned over the years to be more patient. But this year I really know I have to be patient. It’s working out. Patience is the key. It allows everything to open up and allows the O-linemen to do their job and holes open. That’s one of the things I had to work on. I’m becoming more of a football player using my head rather than my legs. I could see how they’re lining up, I could see where the ball is supposed to go. I’ve been working on the mental part of the game and it’s been working out for me."
--on how the team rebounded from being 3-3
"I can’t lie. I can say that we were kind of confused. We really didn’t have a team identity. When Coach Helton came in he instilled this confidence in us. The leaders rounded us all up and we said we can’t play any lackluster football anymore because the goal is still ahead of us. We dug in and played hard and went undefeated in the South."
--on having a chance to play in the Rose Bowl
"It was really hard to think about it back then but now that it actually ahead of us, it makes us want to play that much harder. It feels so good that it’s right there. We just got to take advantage of it."
--on playing Stanford again
"We all remember that loss, especially since it was the fits of our season. We know what they're going to bring to the table. I know they’ve been playing good ball lately, but we’ve been playing good ball lately. Its going to be a really good matchup."
--on what will be the key offensively vs. the Cardinal
"We got to match how physical they play. They’re going to be coming downhill and we just got to match it. I think our O-line is fully capable of doing that but it starts at practice."
Nico Falah
--on replacing Khaliel Rodgers
"I was really nervous at first, but I prepared like a starter ever since I started playing here. It all paid off today. … Playing center helped me a lot because I know the whole playbook, every position on the O-line. Wherever I go, tackle, guard, center, I feel comfortable at because Coach Connelly put me at center."
--on what the O-line’s game plan was vs. UCLA
"Pounding, running the ball, that was a big emphasis this week, since Coach Helton took over also. We finally proved it today with running power on the last drive to finish the game."
Toa Lobendahn
--on beating UCLA
"Just to end the streak is awesome. To see my boy Nico go out there and ball out was amazing."
--on what’s changed under Clay Helton
"We just love playing for him, honestly. Don’t really want to have to go through a coaching change, to earn another guy’s trust. We love playing for him and we’d like to keep it that way."
Adoree’ Jackson
--on the secondary’s mentality coming off a rough performance vs. Oregon
"We didn’t want to worry about what the man next to us was doing. We figured we got to rely on our brother, we got to trust that he’s going to do his job and we just got to do ours. Today, we did our job collectively. … We always talk about, don’t worry about the outside sources."
--on whether Helton should be promoted to head coach
"No doubt in my mind. Coach Helton is a player guy and we’re behind him every step of the way. I know the guys said they didn’t want to (see) what happened two years ago with Coach Orgeron. They said you’re going to regret it if you let this one slip away as well, so just do this for Coach and do it for us as a team. I’m down for Coach Helton, 2016."
--on whether he believes he’s having a good season now
"I feel like it’s the same, I’m just doing alright. I’m always a hard grader on myself and my performance. No matter what may happen, if I end up scoring three touchdowns, its still going to be alright to me I just want to be consistent out there with my play.
--on how he counseled Biggie Marshall after the Oregon game
"I told him to forget about it and put it in the past. We watched this film on (Malcolm) Butler from the Patriots. Odell Beckham caught that pass on him and he (Butler) said, I just have to get back to the next play, I just had to get a feel for the game. I told Biggie to keep that in mind. You might get me one play but it doesn’t matter, but it doesn’t matter. You just got to keep on fighting. And that’s what he did. …
"I told him, Just remember, you just got to stay poised and stay confident in yourself, no matter what. You got the next down to play."
