Lincoln Riley, Brett Neilon and teammates reflect on the 'Neilon Nudge'

Lincoln Riley laughed and started shaking his head Tuesday after practice, when asked about what is now known simply -- and universally throughout the USC fan base -- as the "Neilon Nudge."

"Yeah, just, it was awesome," Riley said, continuing to shake his head in thinking back on it. "I mean, one of my favorite plays that I've ever had anywhere."

Depending on the heights this season reaches, it could be looked back upon as one of the most pivotal moments for Riley's first Trojans team.

With USC trailing 14-10 and a little less than 3 minutes remaining on the road at Oregon State, the Trojans had no choice but to go for it on fourth-and-6 from their own 43. Come up short and the game could be over -- let alone what it would mean for some of the team's loftiest season goals.

Quarterback Caleb Williams took a quick three-step drop to survey the field, but as he felt the pocket caving in around him almost immediately he took off running. Oregon State defensive back Jaydon Grant lowered his shoulder into Williams 2-3 yards short of the first down marker, but the QB's momentum and a spin kept him going until linebacker Omar Speights followed with another hard hit almost a yard short.

Center Brett Neilon was a good 6 yards behind the play, but his instincts kicked in as he accelerated into his QB, joined by right tackle Jonah Monheim as left guard Andrew Vorhees tried to clear out defenders behind Williams. Together, they knocked Williams and the pile across the line to gain to extend the drive, and five plays later Williams hit Jordan Addison on the 21-yard touchdown strike down the sideline that proved to be the decisive score.

"That right there is everything that we've been preaching," Riley continued. "That gives you a chance even when you're not at your best -- we weren't at our best offensively, but the elite effort and fight gave us a shot there. On one hand I expect it, but two, for that to show up at such a critical moment was really cool."

And so, 17 years after the "Bush Push" vs. Notre Dame, the "Neilon Nudge" entered the Trojans' lexicon.

To make the narrative even better, Riley shared that before the game Saturday, linebackers coach Brian Odom addressed the team and had some prophetic words.

"He said something to the team I thought was really spot on. He said 'Somebody in this room tonight is going to make a career-defining play.' He said, 'I don't know who it is, I don't know when it's going to be, but it's going to happen and you better be ready for it,'" Riley recounted.

"We showed that to the team [Monday] morning and I brought that quote back up to him because I mean, obviously with a bunch of other good memories, but I think Brett will probably be remembered for that for a long time."

Neilon helped drive momentum for the "#NeilonNudge" hashtag on Twitter Saturday night, and the official USC football account -- along with many others -- got behind the movement.

On Tuesday, Neilon introduced a specialized piece of memorabilia for fans in the form of a signed trading card that he's inscribing with "Neilon Nudge" and the score.

(No need to even get into what Reggie Bush could have made off Bush Push memorabilia if NIL was a thing back in 2005 ...)

After practice Tuesday, Neilon talked about the play with reporters for the first time.

"I just remember kind of pass-pro’ing. [Offensive line coach Josh] Henson always talks about run to the ball, and I saw Caleb kind of get held up. I didn’t really honestly know how close the first down was. I just kind of looked at him, and I think he kind of looked at me and I just like ran full speed and hit him," Neilon said. "I assumed he was kind of close because there was no whistle, so I assumed the refs maybe thought he might be pretty close like jockeying for position, so I just went and I hit him pretty hard. Maybe the hardest hit of my life. ...

"I channeled my inner sumo and just kind of belly-bumped him."

Neilon spent most of his childhood in Japan, hence the reference.

Like Riley alluded to, and as Monheim would further reiterate, it's not necessarily that the Trojans work on sumo-bumping the QB every practice, but the general ethos of the "Neilon Nudge" is very much emphasized consistently from the coaching staff.

"Coach Henson stresses a lot on straining. He stresses a lot on playing through the whistle, and we do have a thing in the room about finishing by the ball carrier, whether it's a running back, whether it's quarterback, whether it's a receiver," Monheim said. "If guys are running with the ball and the whistle hasn't blown yet, he's big on like finish around the ball. Worst comes to worst a fumble happens, but something like that where a guy's standing around, maybe you catch an extra block, maybe you push him forward for the last couple yards."

As for the branding, although Monheim was there in the mix too on the effort to get Williams across the line, he happily signs off on "Neilon Nudge."

"Oh, I'm great with that name. I'm totally good with Neilon Nudge," Monheim said.

It sounds like the whole team has embraced it, for that matter.

“We’ve been nudging him around the building and giving him his own Neilon Nudge," left tackle Bobby Haskins joked.

It was a fitting moment for Neilon -- a well-respected team leader but one often described as the quieter, lead-by-example type. Well, as Riley noted, that's play was an emphatic example of a lot of what he wants this team to be about.

"That was a huge play and a huge moment, and again another play that I think just shows the effort and the want-to that this team has right now," Riley said. "Man, that can push you over the hump when you're not at your best, and it certainly did us."

Said Haskins: "That's what we want to be as an offensive line. That pretty much sums it up right there."

It's also a fitting moment for Neilon in that he has been at USC since 2017 -- he's now in his fourth season as the Trojans' starting center -- while weathering through some tough times for the program and now some well-deserved spotlight for his contributions to the No. 6 team in the country. He's also rated the No. 2 center in all of college football by PFF, which has graded him out at an elite 84.2 this season (behind only Minnesota's John Michael Schmitz).

It's fitting in one more way, as well ...

Last week in talking about Neilon's progress even as a sixth-year senior, Riley shared the main way in which the coaches have challenged the veteran center.

"The thing we’ve challenged him to do is, like, you’re not Rudy. You have some ability," Riley said. "Everyone looks at him, and he’s not a 6-foot-4, 310-pound center. We get that. But you watch the guy in the weight room, he’s strong. He moves a lot of weight. ... I think he’s improved in taking some of the strength he possesses in the weight room and transferring that to the field and playing with a bit more pop. That’s been really key for us."

Indeed, it sure has.

The "Neilon Nudge" could be prove crucial if USC happens to keep itself in the College Football Playoff discussion late into the season.

In the moment Saturday night, though, Neilon didn't fully grasp the significance.

"Not until like after the game. I got a bunch of texts, like, ‘Great fourth down play. You saved the game.’ And I didn’t really get it until I saw the video because I thought in my mind he already had the first down. So pretty, pretty special."

Monheim added that there was no immediate talk about it among the offense after the play as it still had a game-winning drive to finish and time ticking down.

"I mean, in the moment we were lining up for the next play, onto the next one, things like that. But after the game we had some jokes. I think I smacked [Williams] right in the helmet. He was like 'I saw you guys, I was ready for it.' You know, whatever it takes," Monheim said.

As for the comparisons to the famed Bush Push -- when Reggie Bush pushed QB Matt Leinart into the end zone for the winning touchdown as No. 1 USC beat No. 9 Notre Dame, 34-31, in South Bend, Ind. -- Neilon was deferential.

"Bush Push, probably more special. That’s two legends right there," he said.

Neilon's own place in USC lore now just depends on where this season goes from here.