Highlights from our coach and player interviews following the first practice...
JuJu Smith-Schuster
--He is aiming to be at 205 pounds but is still at 215 pounds.
"When youre half-Samoan, you go back home on the weekends and you eat so much. You can't just let it sit there because it's disrespectful."
--Deontay Burnett was the freshman that impressed him most on Day 1.
"I think he's going to be a great athlete -- great hands, smooth on his routes. The best thing about Deontay is that he has great body control. He knows when to break out of it fast, he knows leverage. If he keeps doing that, that’s going to keep him playing."
Tre Madden
--His focus in fall camp (outside of staying healthy, of course) is being consistent.
"It's easy to come out here the first day and be healthy and have a great day and do everything right, but I'm trying to be consistent every day, even in the dog days of camp, Day 7, 8," he said. "And I'm just trying to be a leader for the young guys, get them on board too."
--Madden not only looked healthy but fast on Saturday.
"I feel really comfortable. Coach said I look smooth out there."
--One of his goals is to be the go-to option in crunch time.
"I feel like I’m an every-down back. I have good hands. I want to be the guy that coach leans on to get the tough yards and get the first down late in the game. That’s what I’m working for."
Steven Mitchell Jr.
--All offseason he's looked like he's primed for a breakout. In the last 12 months, you could say his confidence has grown as much as his talent.
"My goal is to get out here on game day and let everybody know that No. 7 is on the field. Just let everybody know that No. 7 is on the field," he said. "My confidence is risen to the full extent. I’m feeling strong, I’m in the playbook every day. I’m ready. I wish we had a game tomorrow."
Su'a Cravens
"The guy that stood out the most today was JuJu. He’s going to be big for us this year."
Kevon Seymour
--The senior cornerback said he's focusing more on press coverage. Interestingly, he said the corners are often allowed to determine how they want to defend receivers.
"You can play off, you can press, whatever you’re comfortable with. There are certain calls where you have to play off but other than that, you can mix it up. I’m going to mix it up."
--Seymour was impressed with the play of JuJu as well.
"I pressed more tonight. I’m going against JuJu, one of the best receivers in the Pac-12, in the nation in my opinion. He’s strong, physical, bug. His speed is deceiving. It’s great going up against JuJu. We have our battles."
Bob Connelly
--He was asked if the offensive line is physical enough?
"That’s a work in progress. That’s a challenge," he said. "Since I got here, this a is a young group that people are talking about, I'm talking to them about identity. When we line up against Arizona State, when we line up against Stanford, when we line up against Oregon, my challenge is what is their defensive line coach, what is there defensive coordinator, or what is their defensive players saying about the USC offensive line? What type of preparation are they going to have? How tough are we? Do we finish? Do we have that mental toughness? Do we have that physical toughness? Are we nasty on the football field?
"Those are things that I'm encouraging them to build and establish as an identity. Ultimately, that's my goal. We want to out-physical our opponents. We want to dominate the line of scrimmage. We all know for a long time, championship teams are won on the front, whether it's offensive or defensive line. I like our chances. I like our group.
"Are we where we need to be? Absolutely not. There's a lot of room for improvement. But our guys are there mentally. We have the right mindset. Our intentions are good. We just got to continue to build and work and have that relentless mindset and attitude each and every day we come out where. We’ve got to practice with a purpose. Its about doing your job each and every day, each and every play."
--Connelly said he's been impressed with the progress of Chris Brown, who received some first-team reps in the first practice.
"He had a really good spring for us. He had an exceptionally good summer,. He got raving reviews from our strength and conditioning staff with his work ethic and his numbers in the weight room. I like where he's at today. I think he's earned the opportunity to get more reps and hes got an opportunity to develop and work into a rotation."
--Does he like Brown better at guard than tackle?
"That’s where we need him. He’s a guy that has the ability and potential to play either one. But right now his need and our need is best suited to play inside."
JuJu Smith-Schuster
--He is aiming to be at 205 pounds but is still at 215 pounds.
"When youre half-Samoan, you go back home on the weekends and you eat so much. You can't just let it sit there because it's disrespectful."
--Deontay Burnett was the freshman that impressed him most on Day 1.
"I think he's going to be a great athlete -- great hands, smooth on his routes. The best thing about Deontay is that he has great body control. He knows when to break out of it fast, he knows leverage. If he keeps doing that, that’s going to keep him playing."
Tre Madden
--His focus in fall camp (outside of staying healthy, of course) is being consistent.
"It's easy to come out here the first day and be healthy and have a great day and do everything right, but I'm trying to be consistent every day, even in the dog days of camp, Day 7, 8," he said. "And I'm just trying to be a leader for the young guys, get them on board too."
--Madden not only looked healthy but fast on Saturday.
"I feel really comfortable. Coach said I look smooth out there."
--One of his goals is to be the go-to option in crunch time.
"I feel like I’m an every-down back. I have good hands. I want to be the guy that coach leans on to get the tough yards and get the first down late in the game. That’s what I’m working for."
Steven Mitchell Jr.
--All offseason he's looked like he's primed for a breakout. In the last 12 months, you could say his confidence has grown as much as his talent.
"My goal is to get out here on game day and let everybody know that No. 7 is on the field. Just let everybody know that No. 7 is on the field," he said. "My confidence is risen to the full extent. I’m feeling strong, I’m in the playbook every day. I’m ready. I wish we had a game tomorrow."
Su'a Cravens
"The guy that stood out the most today was JuJu. He’s going to be big for us this year."
Kevon Seymour
--The senior cornerback said he's focusing more on press coverage. Interestingly, he said the corners are often allowed to determine how they want to defend receivers.
"You can play off, you can press, whatever you’re comfortable with. There are certain calls where you have to play off but other than that, you can mix it up. I’m going to mix it up."
--Seymour was impressed with the play of JuJu as well.
"I pressed more tonight. I’m going against JuJu, one of the best receivers in the Pac-12, in the nation in my opinion. He’s strong, physical, bug. His speed is deceiving. It’s great going up against JuJu. We have our battles."
Bob Connelly
--He was asked if the offensive line is physical enough?
"That’s a work in progress. That’s a challenge," he said. "Since I got here, this a is a young group that people are talking about, I'm talking to them about identity. When we line up against Arizona State, when we line up against Stanford, when we line up against Oregon, my challenge is what is their defensive line coach, what is there defensive coordinator, or what is their defensive players saying about the USC offensive line? What type of preparation are they going to have? How tough are we? Do we finish? Do we have that mental toughness? Do we have that physical toughness? Are we nasty on the football field?
"Those are things that I'm encouraging them to build and establish as an identity. Ultimately, that's my goal. We want to out-physical our opponents. We want to dominate the line of scrimmage. We all know for a long time, championship teams are won on the front, whether it's offensive or defensive line. I like our chances. I like our group.
"Are we where we need to be? Absolutely not. There's a lot of room for improvement. But our guys are there mentally. We have the right mindset. Our intentions are good. We just got to continue to build and work and have that relentless mindset and attitude each and every day we come out where. We’ve got to practice with a purpose. Its about doing your job each and every day, each and every play."
--Connelly said he's been impressed with the progress of Chris Brown, who received some first-team reps in the first practice.
"He had a really good spring for us. He had an exceptionally good summer,. He got raving reviews from our strength and conditioning staff with his work ethic and his numbers in the weight room. I like where he's at today. I think he's earned the opportunity to get more reps and hes got an opportunity to develop and work into a rotation."
--Does he like Brown better at guard than tackle?
"That’s where we need him. He’s a guy that has the ability and potential to play either one. But right now his need and our need is best suited to play inside."
