Sophomore safety Talanoa Hufanga continued to wear a yellow non-contact jersey at practice Wednesday and didn't offer much insight as to whether he expects to be limited in any way for USC's game at Notre Dame.
Hufanga has been cleared through the concussion protocol after missing the loss at Washington two weekends ago, but he was also dealing with a sprained AC joint in his shoulder -- the status of which remains less clear.
"Feeling good, feeling good. I'm just glad to be out here and be around the guys so I can't complain," Hufanga said after practice. "... I expect to just go out there and do whatever they ask me to. Coaches will put me in the spot, and at the same time if I'm limited it's their job to hold me out. So for me, I'm just going out there just to play."
Asked how significant the shoulder injury was in this process relative to dealing with the concussion, he said "It's probably just the same" and responded to a follow up question about whether it's better with "Yeah, no doubt -- it feels good."
USC coach Clay Helton, who is not available to reporters on Wednesdays, had said Tuesday "we anticipate him being a part of this game," and judging by his work with the first-team defense at the start of practice (the limited window open to media) it would seem likely Hufanga plays his usual role as the Trojans (3-2) visit the No. 9/10 Fighting Irish (4-1).
Which would be a huge boost for the defense, of course.
"He is a very talented guy and I think he brings a whole other energy level to our defense when he's available. And you can see it by his play he really leads by example. We'll be excited when and if he's back out there," defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast said, as per usual remaining intentionally vague on the status of an injury.
"... He can do a lot of different things for us. He can play up around the line of scrimmage, he can play in the intermediate part of the field or he can play in the back part of the field. We've had things kind of dialed up for him when he's been available to be in all those different situations so to be able to utilize some of those things is kind of part of what we [planned for] in the offseason."
DBs coach Greg Burns left little doubt as to his expectation, meanwhile: "Just having another quality guy back, that's going to be huge for us because he's a big part of the defense. … He's a special part of what the defense does."
As Pendergast noted, Hufanga is the Trojans' most versatile chess piece. The sophomore standout ranks second on the team with 42 tackles despite missing a game and has 2.5 tackles for loss (including a half sack). He's had double-digit tackles each of the last three games he played, including 14 in the win over Utah -- a performance Helton said was one of the best by a safety in his 10 years with the program.
Trying to get Hufanga to talk about his breakout-season-in-progress, though, is as challenging as trying to get a ball-carrier past him.
For example, he was asked what part of his game he's proudest of this fall ...
"I'm proudest of none because I've still got to work -- I've got a lot of things to work on," he said. "Just being better with my eyes, I think I need to work on that. Just control it, playing a little bit faster, instinctively, just be able to get downhill a little bit faster, I think I need to work on that too."
He was then asked about his tackling -- which stands out as a positive exception on a team that has had plenty of struggles in that department -- he again demurred.
"I'm still working on it. I don't think I'm up there yet. I still got a lot of things to work on," he said. "I think the whole team in general, coaches preach it and we've been doing a lot of tackling drills in general."
Hufanga says all the right things and his drive and motivation to keep chasing his full potential is no doubt sincere. But the case could already be made that he's USC most important defensive player -- he's at the least on the very short list.
Health concerns -- from the two broken collarbones last fall and in the spring to the current AC joint matter -- would seem to be the biggest hurdle for Hufanga's ascent, but when he's on the field there's little question about his value and what it means to this team. (Case in point, his replacement Chase Williams was the culprit on Washington's pivotal 89-yard touchdown run two weeks ago, and while nothing is certain, it's fair to wonder how different the dynamics of that game would have been had Hufanga been in there to make a key tackle).
"[He] had the unfortunate surgeries in the offseason so it allowed him to really spend a lot of time in the film room and he's a true gym rat type guy who loves the game and loves to do whatever it takes to be a good football player," Pendergast said. "And he's demonstrated that this year."
CB Olaijah Griffin 'ready to go, no issues'
Elsewhere on the injury front, Burns made it clear that sophomore cornerback Olaijah Griffin will be fully available Saturday after recovering from a back injury that kept him out of the Washington game.
"Good. He's ready to go, no issues," Burns said. "He's having a good little bit of end of last week and obviously this week so I feel very comfortable with the three guys in regards to [Isaac]Taylor-Stuart, [Chris] Steele and OG and I plan on rotating all of them."
For what it's worth -- and it may just be a result of him missing time -- but Griffin lined up with the second-team defense at the start of practice with media present. Burns reiterated he's eyeing an even rotation between his three corners.
"If I can get them [all] 66 percent [of the snaps] then I did a good job," he said.
Christian Rector's ankle improving
Redshirt senior defensive end Christian Rector said the bye week spurred significant improvement with his high-ankle sprain, estimating the anke is up to 85-90 percent strength at this point.
"I think it was a huge improvement that I saw in my ability to run full speed and make cuts on it," he said. "Just having it in the back of my mind and knowing it wasn't 100 percent, I think that played a big part in my play."
Rector, who came into the campaign eyeing double-digit sacks, has 2 tackles for loss and a sack this season while playing in four games. He sat out against BYU and played through the injury the next two games, notching just 3 tackles for Utah and 1 vs. Washington.
As for the bye week in general, Pendergast thought communication was the biggest area of benefit for his defense.
"I think we just had the chance to really kind of take a deep breath and really look at ourselves and show the players how we look versus certain formations, in certain things that we're calling, where they can learn from those things," he said. "I think their communication aspect throughout the defense got better during the bye week."
Hufanga on the AD search committee
When USC President Carol Folt announced the formation of a committee to find a new athletic director following Lynn Swann's "resignation" last month, she noted that two student-athletes would be added to the group.
Hufanga and track and field athlete Anna Cockrell were chosen as those student representatives. USC is also using a search firm Turnkey Search in addition to its own committee.
Hufanga said he's met a couple times on the matter so far and his role is mostly to offer the perspective of what a student-athlete would want in a new AD.
"It's an honor. It's a pleasure for me to go out and be part of it. I'm just trying to do my best to do my role and my job. Kind of the same as playing on a football team, you've got to be attention to detail and you've just got to be able to do your job," he said.
"I'm just trying to be at the table and bring my knowledge and my two cents. At the same time, I'm just learning a lot. I think it's a growing opportunity. I'm trying to be a sponge and just absorb."
Asked what input he's contributed so far, he said: "A student-athlete's perspective of kind of what we need as a culture, equality between males and females. So I think for us, just to go out there and represent the student-athletes is a big part of the search."
Hufanga has been cleared through the concussion protocol after missing the loss at Washington two weekends ago, but he was also dealing with a sprained AC joint in his shoulder -- the status of which remains less clear.
"Feeling good, feeling good. I'm just glad to be out here and be around the guys so I can't complain," Hufanga said after practice. "... I expect to just go out there and do whatever they ask me to. Coaches will put me in the spot, and at the same time if I'm limited it's their job to hold me out. So for me, I'm just going out there just to play."
Asked how significant the shoulder injury was in this process relative to dealing with the concussion, he said "It's probably just the same" and responded to a follow up question about whether it's better with "Yeah, no doubt -- it feels good."
USC coach Clay Helton, who is not available to reporters on Wednesdays, had said Tuesday "we anticipate him being a part of this game," and judging by his work with the first-team defense at the start of practice (the limited window open to media) it would seem likely Hufanga plays his usual role as the Trojans (3-2) visit the No. 9/10 Fighting Irish (4-1).
Which would be a huge boost for the defense, of course.
"He is a very talented guy and I think he brings a whole other energy level to our defense when he's available. And you can see it by his play he really leads by example. We'll be excited when and if he's back out there," defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast said, as per usual remaining intentionally vague on the status of an injury.
"... He can do a lot of different things for us. He can play up around the line of scrimmage, he can play in the intermediate part of the field or he can play in the back part of the field. We've had things kind of dialed up for him when he's been available to be in all those different situations so to be able to utilize some of those things is kind of part of what we [planned for] in the offseason."
DBs coach Greg Burns left little doubt as to his expectation, meanwhile: "Just having another quality guy back, that's going to be huge for us because he's a big part of the defense. … He's a special part of what the defense does."
As Pendergast noted, Hufanga is the Trojans' most versatile chess piece. The sophomore standout ranks second on the team with 42 tackles despite missing a game and has 2.5 tackles for loss (including a half sack). He's had double-digit tackles each of the last three games he played, including 14 in the win over Utah -- a performance Helton said was one of the best by a safety in his 10 years with the program.
Trying to get Hufanga to talk about his breakout-season-in-progress, though, is as challenging as trying to get a ball-carrier past him.
For example, he was asked what part of his game he's proudest of this fall ...
"I'm proudest of none because I've still got to work -- I've got a lot of things to work on," he said. "Just being better with my eyes, I think I need to work on that. Just control it, playing a little bit faster, instinctively, just be able to get downhill a little bit faster, I think I need to work on that too."
He was then asked about his tackling -- which stands out as a positive exception on a team that has had plenty of struggles in that department -- he again demurred.
"I'm still working on it. I don't think I'm up there yet. I still got a lot of things to work on," he said. "I think the whole team in general, coaches preach it and we've been doing a lot of tackling drills in general."
Hufanga says all the right things and his drive and motivation to keep chasing his full potential is no doubt sincere. But the case could already be made that he's USC most important defensive player -- he's at the least on the very short list.
Health concerns -- from the two broken collarbones last fall and in the spring to the current AC joint matter -- would seem to be the biggest hurdle for Hufanga's ascent, but when he's on the field there's little question about his value and what it means to this team. (Case in point, his replacement Chase Williams was the culprit on Washington's pivotal 89-yard touchdown run two weeks ago, and while nothing is certain, it's fair to wonder how different the dynamics of that game would have been had Hufanga been in there to make a key tackle).
"[He] had the unfortunate surgeries in the offseason so it allowed him to really spend a lot of time in the film room and he's a true gym rat type guy who loves the game and loves to do whatever it takes to be a good football player," Pendergast said. "And he's demonstrated that this year."
CB Olaijah Griffin 'ready to go, no issues'
Elsewhere on the injury front, Burns made it clear that sophomore cornerback Olaijah Griffin will be fully available Saturday after recovering from a back injury that kept him out of the Washington game.
"Good. He's ready to go, no issues," Burns said. "He's having a good little bit of end of last week and obviously this week so I feel very comfortable with the three guys in regards to [Isaac]Taylor-Stuart, [Chris] Steele and OG and I plan on rotating all of them."
For what it's worth -- and it may just be a result of him missing time -- but Griffin lined up with the second-team defense at the start of practice with media present. Burns reiterated he's eyeing an even rotation between his three corners.
"If I can get them [all] 66 percent [of the snaps] then I did a good job," he said.
Christian Rector's ankle improving
Redshirt senior defensive end Christian Rector said the bye week spurred significant improvement with his high-ankle sprain, estimating the anke is up to 85-90 percent strength at this point.
"I think it was a huge improvement that I saw in my ability to run full speed and make cuts on it," he said. "Just having it in the back of my mind and knowing it wasn't 100 percent, I think that played a big part in my play."
Rector, who came into the campaign eyeing double-digit sacks, has 2 tackles for loss and a sack this season while playing in four games. He sat out against BYU and played through the injury the next two games, notching just 3 tackles for Utah and 1 vs. Washington.
As for the bye week in general, Pendergast thought communication was the biggest area of benefit for his defense.
"I think we just had the chance to really kind of take a deep breath and really look at ourselves and show the players how we look versus certain formations, in certain things that we're calling, where they can learn from those things," he said. "I think their communication aspect throughout the defense got better during the bye week."
Hufanga on the AD search committee
When USC President Carol Folt announced the formation of a committee to find a new athletic director following Lynn Swann's "resignation" last month, she noted that two student-athletes would be added to the group.
Hufanga and track and field athlete Anna Cockrell were chosen as those student representatives. USC is also using a search firm Turnkey Search in addition to its own committee.
Hufanga said he's met a couple times on the matter so far and his role is mostly to offer the perspective of what a student-athlete would want in a new AD.
"It's an honor. It's a pleasure for me to go out and be part of it. I'm just trying to do my best to do my role and my job. Kind of the same as playing on a football team, you've got to be attention to detail and you've just got to be able to do your job," he said.
"I'm just trying to be at the table and bring my knowledge and my two cents. At the same time, I'm just learning a lot. I think it's a growing opportunity. I'm trying to be a sponge and just absorb."
Asked what input he's contributed so far, he said: "A student-athlete's perspective of kind of what we need as a culture, equality between males and females. So I think for us, just to go out there and represent the student-athletes is a big part of the search."
