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The unfamiliar street by means of Huge Ten nation was not precisely welcoming to USC throughout its convention debut in 2024. The Trojans blew a fourth-quarter lead throughout all 4 of their Huge Ten street journeys exterior of Los Angeles final season, every defeat seemingly extra devastating than the one earlier than it.
In order USC units out on its second swing by means of the Huge Ten, beginning with a visit to West Lafayette, Ind., on Saturday, it has tried to handle that downside in methods large and small — from changing the power and conditioning coach to altering the staff’s sleeping and meal instances.
These adjustments can be put to the take a look at this week when USC crosses two time zones. A part of that new method contains taking a completely totally different aircraft to get there, one with a bit more room to stretch out throughout a protracted flight.
“[The players are] gonna like having more leg room,” coach Lincoln Riley stated with a smile. “Who doesn’t like more leg room?”
Purdue ought to make issues a bit extra uncomfortable for USC than its earlier two opponents. The Boilermakers are 2-0 to start out underneath new coach Barry Odom, who introduced in 54 transfers to rebuild a staff that completed 1-11, lifeless final within the convention, final season.
Riley could not have a lot of a deal with on Purdue’s personnel, however he ought to have a reasonably good thought what the Boilermakers will choose on offense. In any case, Purdue’s offensive coordinator, Josh Henson, spent the earlier two seasons as Riley’s offensive line coach and coordinator at USC.
“He’s going up against us, too,” Riley stated. “So those things kind of go both ways. There’s obviously going to be some things that both sides are familiar with because of that. But it’s a players’ game at the end of the day.”
Listed here are three issues to look at as USC takes on Purdue on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. PDT (CBS, Paramount+):
