USC defensive coordinator Alex Grinch spoke with reporters Wednesday after practice, looking ahead to the road game this week at Oregon State and the challenges the Beavers present for his unit.

Grinch also recalled his past experience facing Oregon State head coach Jonathan Smith, who was the offensive coordinator at Washington when Grinch was the DC at rival Washington State.

Grinch talked about what sets defensive lineman Tuli Tuipulotu apart, cleaning up the gap responsibility mistakes in the run game and more.

Watch the full interview here or scroll down for our complete transcript of his comments:

How has Chance Nolan's improvement at QB helped Oregon State?

"Yeah, it's just so efficient in the passing game. You look at the numbers, explosive with the ball being directed downfield, lots of setup with the run game, but I think it's not appropriate to say it's just simply that. Efficient with some of the underneath stuff. You have to be able to defend the run as pass-first defenders on the second level of your defense. So that's a lot of conflict on seven guys on every single snap. And they do it with a number of different personnel groupings, so it's not as simple as saying it's two-back or one-back or one tight end. You've got some wildcat you've got to deal with and prepare for, even in situations it may not end up being wildcat, as you say, you've got the quarterback under center. They're good at what they do and it's a real challenge."

Was there a moment early on when you first realized that Tuli was a special talent for you?

"There was. I don't remember a specific one, but he certainly stands out. Maybe in some ways that's a negative when you just circle one guy because he's just so different than the rest. That's a challenge to the other guys, but in every way from being physical, from trying to do everything right both on and off the field, going hard. One of the things that we spent so much time on is effort's not extra. Hard work's not extra work, and he's just one of those guys who go to work every single day. Has not missed a rep, a day, and oh, by the way he's a pretty good football player. And I'm not sure which one's first. I'd like to think because he works his tail off is how he got himself here. We need more guys kind of following that lead."