Having played with quarterback JT Daniels and wider receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown at Mater Dei High School, kicker Chase McGrath wasn't expecting this at all.
Not that Daniels was throwing darts down the field in his collegiate debut Saturday against UNLV, or that St. Brown led the team with 7 catches for 98 yards and a score.
No, the surprise was McGrath's own involvement.
"With JT and Amon-Ra, my senior year, I had like five attempts the whole year. So I was expecting to get like no attempts," McGrath quipped after the 43-21 win. "Obviously, if they need to call on me, I'm there for them."
He proved that point Saturday, going 5 for 5 on field goal attempts to tie the Trojans' single-game record, set by Ryan Killeen in 2004 against UCLA. McGrath made four of those kicks in the first half when the game and offense were both still tight, connecting from 46, 38, 29 and 47 yards to account for USC's first 12 points. He added a 36-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to match the single-game record.
McGrath, a former walk-on who was awarded a scholarship after his freshman season last year, is already almost halfway to his 2017 field goal total. He was 12 of 17 last fall.
"Last year, the first two games I didn't kick any field goals. It took until the third game for me to get an attempt, so obviously it's nice to be in there and have the coach have the confidence to put you in that many times," he said.
USC coach Clay Helton was asked if McGrath's five field goals were a good sign or bad sign for his team.
"That's the bad news. That's called not putting the ball in the end zone," Helton said. "I thought the kicker did a wonderful job. That's 15 points, but as we know, we'll look it as that as five opportunities not to get a touchdown."
Such is the life of a kicker.
But McGrath earned his share of the spotlight Saturday, which he promptly shared with his holder and snapper.
"It's really just a team effort, to be honest, with Wyatt [Schmidt] and Damon [Johnson], my holder and snapper. Those guys put so much work in the offseason, through training camp. They make my job so easy. The snap, hold is perfect every single time, so obviously it's a group effort. ... We have the best operation in all of college football, I'm pretty sure, because those guys just make it so easy for me."