USC freshman CB Chris Steele: 'I see my game going to another level'

Five-star freshman cornerback Chris Steele had already seen his role on the Trojans defense increase with each passing week, from playing 14 snaps in the opener to 22 against Stanford and then 34 last Saturday at BYU.

And the biggest leap could be coming this week, as USC coach Clay Helton said Wednesday that redshirt freshman cornerback Isaac Taylor-Stuart is "questionable at best" while going through the concussion protocol.

Steele has been playing behind Taylor-Stuart, rotating in at that right cornerback spot with sophomore Olaijah Griffin manning the left side, all the while continuing the competition for playing time that started back in the summer.

"Chris has played a lot of ball. Basically game 2 and 3, if you go back and watch that tape, man, he's been lights out, Helton said.

Indeed, it's been a quick and impressive maturation for the highly-touted freshman. His preseason seemed to be defined by his penchant for drawing penalty flags, and his debut was less than ideal.

Despite only playing those 14 snaps vs. Fresno State, Steele was part of the two biggest coverage busts for the Trojans defense. It appeared there was confusion between he and nickel Chase Williams (DBs coach Greg Burns said Williams should have made the play) on a 34-yard touchdown route that split their quarters coverage. Then Steele got beat by the same receiver -- Derrion Grim -- on a 52-yard completion at the end of the third quarter that set up an eventual Fresno State field goal.

"I'd really just say it was just the environment. I'd never played in an environment that big. I went to a big high school, played against some of the top teams in the country, but just the environment was way different," said Steele, who starred down the road at national power St. John Bosco HS. "So once I got past that I just had to tell myself I've been playing this game since I was a little kid."

According to PFF College advanced data, Steele has allowed only 1 completion (for 6 yards) on 6 targets over the last two games. He's the fourth-highest-rated USC defensive player for the season in the PFF College grading.

So even without Taylor-Stuart's uncertain status, Steele has doing his part to earn a larger share of the job.

"Basically just [doing] what he's supposed to. He's working hard, he's understanding the system and he's playing well," Burns said. "Just attention to detail. He understands the system, it's just me putting him in and just giving him a chance to showcase what he can do."

Steele, who went through spring practice at Florida before transferring to USC in the summer, credits his work with Burns for allowing him to trust himself more on the field.

"I always trusted my technique, but not to its full ability -- I've really just taken in the coaching that coach Burns has been giving me and using it during the game. That's the biggest thing -- just trusting my technique," Steele said.

That was a paramount point of emphasis for Burns in the preseason -- getting Steele to believe in his positioning to make plays without doing the things that were drawing the steady stream of flags from the refs during practices.

That confidence is showing when it matters now, but it's still early. Regardless of Taylor-Stuart's status for Friday night, Steele should have plenty of opportunity in his biggest spotlight yet to try to show why he was such a coveted recruit.

"I'm really getting comfortable out there, getting comfortable with just playing in different environments and I think that I see my game going to another level, which is something I've really been looking forward to," he said. "I've been putting in the work on the practice field, so it's really translating to the game and I'm real excited about that."