USC’s motivation in Tuesday’s practice is to stay at the top of its game

The 5-0 Trojans started Tuesday’s practice with no music. But as USC started to lock in and ran drills, “Can’t Stop” blasted through the speakers.

After holding Arizona State to minus-6 rushing yards in the second half of Saturday’s game, the Trojan defense set the tone during Tuesday’s practice. Their fiery energy radiated through their drills while “I’m on a new level” pierced through the air.

During practice, the team screamed in unison, “SC” and the defense continuously clapped, hyping each other up following the Trojans 42-25 win over Arizona State. Junior defensive lineman Tuli Tuipulotu said the defense knows how to be seen as a threat to other teams.

“By just going out there and hitting someone in their mouth and letting them know who we are as the Trojans,” Tuipulotu said. “That sets the tone.”

With 33 seconds left on the clock Saturday, Arizona State’s redshirt junior quarterback Emory Jones threw the ball on third-and-11. USC sophomore defensive back Calen Bullock read Jones’ eyes and knew exactly where the ball was going.

“I sat there for three seconds because I knew our defensive line was putting pressure on [Jones],” Bullock said. “Since he had to get the ball out quickly, I knew he was going to throw it to the tight end, and I broke before he even threw the ball.”

Bullock said it felt great to catch his second interception of the season. But he wasn’t too fond of who stopped him from getting a touchdown on the return.

“At the end, I was tackled by the quarterback,” Bullock said. “I had to laugh it off.”

Bullock’s pick wasn’t the only interception the USC crowd saw. Although sophomore quarterback Caleb Williams threw for 348 yards and three touchdowns, the Trojans also had their first turnover of the season when Williams threw an interception in the end zone. Head coach Lincoln Riley was not worried about Williams’ hesitation during Saturday’s game.

“As the [offensive coordinator] and the head coach, you want to see it all clean and perfect all the time,” Riley said. “At times, it’s not. We have to be able to improvise and know what we want to do from there.”

Riley said Saturday’s matchup against Washington State may look like a different game. Washington State’s defensive style is similar to that of USC. The Cougar defense has held its opponents’ offenses to less than 17 points in four out of five games.

“They’re aggressive up front and their linebackers and safeties are active,” Riley said. “[We have] to be on [our] game assignment and understand that this game can look a lot different than Arizona State.”

The Trojans are ready to set the tone against Washington State during Trojan Family Weekend. The home game Saturday kicks off at 4:30 p.m and will be broadcast on Fox.