As the word started to spread last Saturday morning that freshman safety Calen Bullock was going to get the start in his USC debut, Muir High School football coach Zaire Calvin got the alert.

"It's a tight community," he says.

College football Saturdays are busy for Calvin with a son playing at Mississippi State and a number of other former players scattered at various schools, but he made sure to give USC's season opener a prominent place in his viewing rotation, watching his former two-way standout make himself one of the stories of the game with a team-high 8 tackles for the Trojans.

"I was not surprised," Calvin said. "We made sure that when he left Muir that he was prepared to play at the next level, and he's always shown a love of the game that a lot of these kids don't have nowadays -- a passion for the game, a passion for learning, a passion for details. The hard-nosed part, that's the part our coaching staff made sure we put that part in him, made sure [he knew] what it was going to be like on the next level. So I was not surprised."

Those who watched Bullock stand out in spring practice and elevate his game further in fall camp maybe weren't surprised either that the lanky, rangy safety seized his opportunity, but many others might have been.

It wasn't revealed publicly until the morning of the game that redshirt senior safety and team captain Isaiah Pola-Mao would be unavailable due to COVID protocols. Bullock said he actually found out on Wednesday, though, so he had some time to prepare -- mentally as much as anything.

"Really, I was just telling myself, motivating myself, 'This is what I do -- I'm here for a reason,'" he recalled of his thoughts walking out of the tunnel in the Coliseum last Saturday. "Really, I was everywhere [mentally]. Once I started making plays, the game just started slowing down for me, everything started to be easy and I just started playing football."

One after another, Bullock made plays for the Trojans last weekend, disguising those early nerves well while playing as well as any veteran on the Trojans defense.

He flashed his range in coverage, showcased the instincts that have stood out in practices and proved that even at a wiry 180 pounds -- his teammates call him "Sticks" -- that he could deliver big tackles.

Earlier this week, while reflecting back on his impressive debut, Bullock admitted that when he got to USC he wasn't sure there would be a role for him this year. After just one game, the only question regarding Bullock now is just how prominent a role he'll have on the defense moving forward.

"I had thoughts of redshirting at first, but now I think, like I'm good now -- I know what I want," he said.