Speaking after practice Tuesday, USC coach Lincoln Riley gave his final takeaways from the win at Arizona State, his thoughts on Deion Sanders' early success at Colorado, the rotation at linebacker, putting walk-on kicker Denis Lynch on scholarship and more.

Watch the full interview here and scroll down for a complete transcript of Riley's comments Tuesday.

What did you learn about the LBs in evaluating the ASU game?

"Obviously, we played those three guys. We honestly intended to play a few more, but the way the game unfolded, those guys got in a rhythm. Eric was playing – Eric played pretty well. Tackett was extremely productive. It was his best game. We thought he took some steps from kind of being able to catch his breath from the first three weeks of the season, when it’s all coming at you fast. He took a nice step in the bye week, and thought he played well. So was proud to see that. And Mason, Mason did a good job. We operate typically pretty well when he’s in there. He’s such a good communicator and knows our stuff so well, thinks fast on the run. He’s a good player, but he brings a lot of intangible benefits to it too. Then, I mean listen, Raesjon, Shane, guys like that are still a big part of what we do. This thing is going to go on and on. There’s different things that are going to happen. We’re going to need all five of those guys to play at a high level. Four games in, you look back on it, all five had some really good, bright moments for us."

What does Raesjon need to do push for more opportunities?

"I think consistency of his job, and that’s really – you could put that in the blank for all of them. I mean, listen, when you’ve got five guysin there that you feel like are good players, the margins are going to be thin. The thing we tell guys about playing time, and I’ve told you guys, is make it obvious. Make it where it’s impossible for us to keep you off the field. That’s always been our message to guys. Raesjon has improved drastically. Really proud of his progress. There’s a lot of confidence. There’s frankly quite a bit more confidence in him than there was 12 months ago. And we weren’t in a bad place with him, but he really has grown up and progressed. And he’s going to play a part. Just watch and see. If he continues to keep the great attitude like he always has, he’s going to play a big part. No question about it."

What have you thought of Colorado's transformation at Colorado?

"I think he’s done a great job. I mean, look at the results. At the end of the day, our job as coaches is to do what’s necessary to help make these programs that give us an opportunity the best we possibly can. That’s kind of the end of it. We’ve all seen it here. There’s a lot more similarities in the transformation here and what coach has done at Colorado than there’s not. I see right where he’s coming from. He’s done a great job with the roster. The other thing I’ve seen – I don’t know him, I’ve never met him – but he seems to be very genuine in his approach. Listen, everybody is different. Everybody has got different personalities. I think leadership, when you’re fake and you’re someone you’re not, people see right through that. Regardless of what your characteristics are, of your personality, if you’re yourself, you can be a great leader. He certainly seems to do that, seems to very genuine, and certainly his guys have responded to that."

He said some positive things about you, did you see his comments?

"I didn’t. We were kind of holed up here. But I’m looking forward to getting a chance to meet him and visit with him. Obviously he’s one of the best players to ever play our game and so I think will always have an important place in our game, no matter what. So looking forward to getting a chance to chat with him and compete against him."

How important is it to have a QB connection like he does with his son, like you and Caleb have, when pulling off a rebuild like they are?

"Yeah, it's critical. You've got two coaches that came in with guys that they've obviously trusted and had experience with. I don't think you can put a price tag on that from the team aspect and building the culture in the beginning, which is really, really tough. It's a lot harder than probably what people think on the outside. And then certainly offensively, we were able to get off to a decent start Year 1 offensively and they've been able to obviously do the same and play very well, so I think it's a key part. He was smart enough to bring his son along with him, and he's played at a high level."

Do you have to warn the guys about bulletin board material the way they've used that to advantage?

"We just tried to, kind of going back to the genuine comment, we've just tried to continue to be ourselves and keep our same approach. We haven't been focused on opponents or any of the outside things. To each his own, and we've got to stay focused. We've got plenty of things that we've got to get better at and be ready to handle that have to do with us, and if any of our focus is going anywhere else then that's not the big thing for USC."

They have a lot of speed, what are your thoughts on stopping the big play, which was a bane to you last game?

"It was kind of what?"

A bane.

"Yeah, we've got to do a good job of it every week, right? College football, that's part of it the way the game is played now, you've got to try to limit those big plays and that will be very important. Defensively, we're fortunate because we get to see some pretty good skill guys offensively every day that we compete against, and we know this will be one of the more talented groups that we face in terms of opponents, so we'll have to do a good job."

Mario had a few drops Saturday after struggling with that last year, how do you work with him on that?

"He's an experienced player. I mean, he took his eye off the first one trying to go score a touchdown. I think was just pressing a little bit on the second one. Mario's played a lot of ball. If he were a young guy that's very early on, I think you'd be a little more concerned, but guys go through this. It's like, Jonah misses a block or Caleb misses a throw, it's part of it, it's going to happen. The thing is, Mario's a confident human being, he's a hard worker. He came back and made an enormous play, which was probably the toughest catch he had all night, which is just the bang-bang play down there on the two-point conversion that was huge. So obviously our confidence didn't wane and his didn't either."

With the turnaround between a night game and a morning game, what's the biggest thing that you need to build in time for this week?

"Well, there's two sides of it, right? For the players, it's the recovery side, being able to get the work and get the plan in and attack the areas that we have to improve on. And then getting the recovery in is probably the biggest thing for the coaches. Good thing we don't have to play any snaps, but it's kind of like playing on a little bit of a short week for the coaches and that's OK. Yeah, we've made a few adjustments in our schedule kind of throughout the week to accommodate for that. We're used to this. We played quite a few of these at the previous spot, quite a few big ones -- Red River was always really, really early. A lot of us actually kind of prefer this. It will be fun just to wake up, eat, do a quick meeting and go play."

What was the reaction to Denis getting a scholarship and why was now the right time?

"They erupted. They've seen the way that that guy's worked throughout the entire time he's been here. He's never been promised anything. He's just, we've given him opportunity and he's continued to work hard and I think he has the respect of the entire team. When I told the team, they erupted, they had Denis come up and give a speech, which in typical Denis fashion was all over the play."

What did he say?

"Honestly, I'm not like being, I'm not trying find anything, I don't know that I could accurately explain it. It was really bizarre, and then at the end it was like, 'And thank you' and walked off. That's just Denis for you. Denis is kind of quirky, but the guys love him and guys have a lot of respect. It was a cool moment."