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Miller Moss joked that he wishes fellow freshman quarterback Jaxson Dart had made it easier to dislike him to this point in their competition for the USC No. 2 QB job.

"Somedays I wish I hated Jaxson. It would make it easier," Moss said Tuesday after practice with a laugh. "But he’s a really good dude. He comes from a good family. He’s a great guy. Obviously, it’s going to be kind of odd sometimes in competition, but he’s a really good dude, and I really enjoy competing with him and also learning from Kedon [Slovis]."

USC's dueling four-star freshmen quarterbacks were made available for interviews Tuesday for the first time since arriving on campus last January, as they continue their preseason competition.

When it came his time in front of the cameras and microphones, Dart reciprocated Moss' comments in addressing the tenor of that competition.

"Me and Miller are super cool with each other. We both respect each other. I think he’s a really good player. I think it’s good because, like I said, it pushes us to play to the best of our abilities," he said. "I think we have similar goals. So we come out on the field each day and we push each other for sure."

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Even though Moss was a local prospect, coming up in the Southern California football scene and then starring at Bishop Alemany High School, while Dart hails from Utah, they have been plenty familiar with each other for well longer than their shared time on campus.

Moss and Dart both trained with 3DQB in Huntington Beach, often working in the same QB group over the last couple years. In fact, on the day Dart committed to the Trojans in December, with Moss already entrenched in the class, he was in California and ended up right next to Moss in their training group.

"The first session, it was probably a little bit awkward for them both, but I talked to them both at the exact same time -- this is what it's going to be like the rest of your career," Taylor Kelly, the QB coach who worked with both at 3DQB, told TrojanSports.com back in the spring. "... You're going to make each other better so learn off each other. That's one thing I see is they're both competing, they're talking and working, but they're also competing against each other. It's going to be fun to watch them."

Indeed, the two were seen walking together talking after one of the Trojans' player-run practices over the summer, and it does seem like there is a mutual respect between them.

But also, yes, they both want that No. 2 QB job and the early positioning to take over for starter Kedon Slovis when he moves on to the NFL, which could come after this season (or earlier if Slovis misses any time with injury).

"Yeah, for sure. I’m just going to keep trying to do what I can do, just control what I can control. Obviously, I want to come out and put myself in the best position to put myself in a good spot, so I’ll just keep working and I’ll end up where I end up," Dart said.

Said Moss: "You know, I’m here to help the team win games. However that manifests itself, wherever I end up on the depth chart, I’m happy to be a Trojan and happy to be here. I’m going to do whatever I can to help this team win and support Kedon and Jaxson and do whatever coach asks of me. So I think that's my main goal. I’m here to help make USC great again, and I’m going to do everything I can to do that. ...

"Even on my days that I don’t have my best practice, I try to remind myself, you’re here, you’re competing at USC to be the quarterback of the future, and that’s a really, really lucky spot to be in."