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Published Sep 5, 2024
Everything Lincoln Riley said Thursday ahead of USC's game with Utah State
Ryan Young  •  TrojanSports
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Lincoln Riley had his final media availability ahead of USC's home game against Utah State, as he joined reporters over Zoom on Thursday.

Riley said linebacker Mason Cobb is questionable for the game with an injury, he talked about how the Trojans would adjust if Cobb can't play, the growth of freshman linebacker Desman Stephens, how to get the run game going, more thoughts on QB Miller Moss and DT Bear Alexander, the value of having an experienced roster, the matchup with Utah State and much more.

Watch the interview here and scroll down for a complete transcript of his comments.

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What is Mason Cobb's status and if he's unable to go how does that change Eric Gentry's role?

"Yeah, Mason's been limited for us this week, hasn't been a full participant at practice, will be questionable for the game. We'll just kind of see how he moves around today, and obviously we've got a little bit of extra time for recovery now with the later kick. We'll see. It'll be close. Yeah, if he's not able to go, we still have Eric and Easton obviously, that next group of guys -- Desmon Stephens, Raesjon, Newby, Madden, that group. It would be a combination of all of those guys if Mason is not able to go. Hopefully he can, but if he can't it'll be exciting to see some of those guys get an opportunity."

You mentioned the importance of establishing the run game last week, what are your thoughts on how to get more consistent there and what you need to see from the O-line?

"We had a lot of just really solid plays on it. Obviously, some of the best ones were there at the end. We had a couple of explosive runs, which was great. We had a couple that we felt we had a little bit more there, an opportunity for a few more explosives in the game, but I thought we were pretty patient with it just with the way the game unfolded. I thought it got better as the game went on, and yeah, that will continue to be a work in progress there in terms of getting our guys on the same page with the offensive line, the backs, I think getting a feel for what our guys do well and settling into the game and playing a little bit more consistent there. But yeah, a lot to build on -- a lot of good, a challenging defensive front we played against. A lot of positives, certainly kind of like the rest of the team, some things that still need to be cleaned up if we're going to run the ball this season the way we feel we can."

Any other injuries and do you have an update on the captains for this week?

"No other injury designations. We'll name those on our Fridays before the game, so don't have any to announce right now."

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