It's become routine now to see sophomore wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown lingering in the corner of the practice field a while after most all of his teammates have headed back to the locker room.

If he's not the last one on the field each day, he's one of the last, catching extra passes from the Jugs machine that he believes could make the difference in a hauling in a key reception when it matters in the fall.

"Usually I do 200, so 200 catches after practice and a few over the head," he said Tuesday, explaining that routine. "I'm trying to get there, trying to be perfect every day."

St. Brown noted that he had 4-5 drops with those 200 catches Tuesday, and that's about standard.

"I try to keep it to zero, but it's tough," he said.

So why 200?

"Just when I was growing up, it's a number that my dad made for us so I've been doing it ever since," he explained.

St. Brown of course comes from a football-rich family. One older brother Equanimeous St. Brown starred at Notre Dame and now plays with the NFL's Green Bay Packers, while another Osiris St. Brown is a wide receiver at Stanford.

The family got its own Jugs machine -- the one that spits out footballs at the desired velocity -- when Amon-Ra was in the fifth or sixth grade, he said. And he and his brothers would consistently get their catches in, already looking ahead to their bright football futures.

St. Brown, one of the headliners of USC's strong 2018 recruiting class, led the Trojans as a true freshman with 60 catches last fall and was a close second to Michael Pittman in receiving yards with 750. He scored 3 touchdowns.

He is hoping for more in 2019, and it's easy to see him piling up huge numbers in new offensive coordinator Graham Harrell's version of the Air Raid.

"I just want to be better than I was last year, just keep improving every year -- I think I'll be just fine," he said.

Meanwhile, Harrell had some strong praise for both St. Brown and Pittman after practice Tuesday.

"The standard that I hold all receivers to [from] now on has changed. I think more is possible because of how hard they go," Harrell said.

He was referring to the work and focus those two deliver within practice. And when it's over, St. Brown moves on to his extra individual regimen.

Because that's just what he's always done -- and because there's abundant motivation after the Trojans' collective disappointment from their 5-7 finish last fall.

"We understand what happened last year and we just never want that to happen again. That bitter taste in our mouth is still there. Every day in practice we try to come out and prove ourselves, get better individually at everything we can do and just make sure that never happens again," he said.

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