It should be clear by now that when USC offensive coordinator Graham Harrell heaps consistent and high-end praise upon a player that it might just carry a reliable correlation to Saturdays.

He did it last year with quarterback Kedon Slovis before most anyone else realized what the then-freshman was truly capable of, and he did it this preseason with sophomore receiver Drake London.

And voila ... London looked like the best player on the field Saturday, leading the Trojans with 8 catches for 125 yards and the game-winning touchdown in their 28-27 victory over Arizona State.

On Tuesday, Harrell doubled down.

"He's as gifted of a receiver as I've ever been around just with a skill set that's rare in football with his size and ball skills and body control. Like I said, that's rare," Harrell said of the 6-foot-5 two-sport athlete. "You see a lot of basketball guys that do that, but not many of them play the game of football. And so with his skill set you got a special guy, but the great thing about him is [as] big and talented and gifted as he is he's still extremely physical and does everything right and he's extremely coachable. And so Drake's a special individual and we're fortunate to have him."

As we opined after the game, it seemed Saturday as if London had formally morphed from overqualified third receiver to main stage star in this offense.

He broke out over the second half of last season, finishing with 39 catches for 567 yards and 5 touchdowns, while redefining a position for USC, often likened to a flexed-out pass-catching tight end in the mold of the Travis Kelce or George Kittle. But entering this season, the conversation about USC's wide receiving corps usually started with junior Amon-Ra St. Brown and redshirt senior Tyler Vaughns as the established, entrenched veterans.

London might well have changed the conversation Saturday.