Clay Helton reacts to Pac-12 switching USC's championship game opponent

Monday morning started with USC coach Clay Helton talking about the Pac-12 championship game matchup with Washington that his staff had been preparing for since Sunday.

Hours later, the Pac-12 announced that the Trojans would instead play Oregon in the conference title game on Friday afternoon, as the Huskies won't clear their COVID-19 hurdle in time to practice and play that game.

Everyone involved knew that was a possibility all along. Helton even talked Monday morning about planning to dedicate some hours in the evenings to a contingency prep for for Oregon. But it's certainly not ideal to have lost a day preparing for a team other than the one the Trojans will now be playing in four days.

USC regrouped, pushed practice back a little Monday afternoon and turned the focus to the Ducks, and afterward, Helton joined the Trojans Live radio show to discuss the events of the day.

"Obviously it's a short week and we were in preparation for Washington and flipped the switch about lunch time today. We were able to get a late afternoon practice in, be able to install a couple of thoughts for Oregon and be able to intro them, and now we'll get a full practice tomorrow and work toward Oregon for Friday night," he said.

Meanwhile, he gave his scouting report on the 3-2 Ducks, who won their first three games before dropping their last two to Oregon State and Cal and having their game with Washington cancelled this past weekend.

"Mario [Cristobal] has done a nice job of recruiting and he's got several good athletes, especially offensively. You look at that offense and you see the running backs, the wideouts and how much speed is on the field. And we know [QB] Tyler Shough and know what he's able to do -- he can get streaky hot and when he does he's a really talented player. Hopefully we can do our job and get them in some behind the chains a little bit and hopefully try to force Tyler off his spot," Helton said. "Defensively, they give a variety of looks. They bounce in and out of four-down and then odd structure. They bring pressures from everywhere, movement from everywhere, disguise coverages extremely well. It will be a good challenge for us offensively. These are two good teams competing against each other and that's the way it should be in a championship game."

RELATED: Read more about the matchup with the Ducks here

USC wide receiver Tyler Vaughns also joined the Trojans Live program. It would have been nice to get a player's take on what the switch from preparing for Washington to suddenly focusing on Oregon entailed, but he wasn't asked that question by the hosts.

He was asked about getting another shot against the Ducks in the Coliseum after Oregon won 56-24 over the Trojans a year ago there.

"Can't lose. We're not going to lose. That's the whole talk. There's nothing more to be said about it. We're just not going to lose to them," Vaughns said.

Meanwhile, USC athletic director Mike Bohn was on the show and was asked about the Trojans' College Football Playoff hopes if they win this week. USC was No. 15 in the CFP rankings last week before the dramatic win over UCLA, and it remains to be seen how high they'll climb in the new rankings Tuesday as a 5-0 team.

"Our focus is on the game on Friday. As you know, Oregon has not played in two weeks, so they've got a little bit of an edge there. We just found out today at about 11, 12 o'clock that we were going to play Oregon, so our coaches, our players are locked in on trying to do everything they can to prepare for that game. And if we're fortunate enough to come out on top and be the Pac-12 champions, then I think we're going to have the ability to really talk about why we're compelling and why some people believe that we should be in that conversation and I believe we will be," Bohn said.

"But we've got to win the game first. We're well aware of what Oregon did to us last time in this stadium. They're a way different team, but that was last year and now they're coming down and I know our team will be ready and recognizes the opportunity to compete against Oregon."