The Trojans held a brief practice session on Thursday that was more a “mental” session, according to USC head coach Lane Kiffin.
“This is a business trip for us,” Kiffin said. “It’s not about playing in an NFL stadium, or players getting to see their families. It’s about winning the game and getting on a plane to come back home.”
The Trojans will depart for New Jersey early on Thursday afternoon and will take part in a walk-through at MetLife Stadium on Friday. The team normally doesn’t do a walk-through in the stadium where it will play the next day, but Kiffin said he made an exception this time because the team is staying so close to the stadium.
As far as the goals for the game, Kiffin mentioned slowing down Syracuse quarterback Ryan Nassib and continue to get more playing time for his younger guys.
“We want to try and get Nassib in third-and-long situations,” Kiffin said. “He is so good with his short passes and getting rid of the ball quickly, he doesn’t get rattled. We need to do everything we can to get to him and disrupt his timing.
“We also need to continue playing younger players. We did it in the first game and it’s something we’re committed to doing. We’re going to need them at some point during the season.”
The USC vs Syracuse game will be shown on ABC at 12:30 p.m. PT with pre-game radio coverage beginning at 8:00 a.m. PT on ESPNLA radio (710am).
