Brenden Rice knew it might be the best chance -- or perhaps only chance -- he'd get last week vs. Stanford, so when the Trojans dialed up a deep shot to him in the second quarter he had to maximize it.
"I was just honestly looking for that one opportunity and the opportunity presented itself and I made the most of it," he said afterward.
Indeed, Rice's 75-yard touchdown reception from Caleb Williams was one of the plays of the game in the Trojans' dominant 56-10 win over the Cardinal. And, indeed, that would be the only pass thrown Rice's way in the game -- the second time in three games the starting wide receiver has received one lone target.
"If you guys go through the pass stats of each and every game, some guys got two catches, some guys got three catches, but these guys are continuously going out there and making the most of each and every play," Rice said. "And if you go out there and make the most of each and every play, you're going to stay on the field. So honestly, it's just take advantage of your opportunities."
USC very well may have the deepest corps of receivers in the country, and opening the season against the likes of San Jose State, Nevada and a rebuilding Stanford program has allowed coach Lincoln Riley to deploy the full extent of that depth.
Six Trojans have between 8 and 10 receptions for the season -- Mario Williams (10), Tahj Washington (9), Zachariah Branch (9), Duce Robinson (8), Dorian Singer (8) and TE Lake McRee (8) -- while Rice has 5 catches (turning those into 3 touchdowns).
Outside receivers coach Dennis Simmons was asked a couple weeks ago if it's "challenging" for him to decide who gets on the field. He paused and chuckled.
"That is a struggle at times -- I'm not even going to sit here and try to sugarcoat that," Simmons said. "... All of them have their own unique skill sets, but we try to put them in in situations where we know they do this continuously well and they have a lot of confidence in that particular assignment that you're going to put them in."
As the schedule strengthens, the rotations should tighten. Caleb Williams won't be taking off second halves all season, and the Trojans' established veteran receivers should see their target shares increase.
But the reality remains, there is only one football and a loaded cast of five-star talent, proven playmakers, dynamic newcomers and guys like Michael Jackson III (2 catches for 19 yards and a TD) and Kyron Hudson (3 catches for 42 yards) that could probably be top wideouts on many other teams.
And then there are the running backs ...
MarShawn Lloyd is averaging a robust 7.8 yards per carry with 195 rushing yards, 2 TDs and another 71 yards receiving. He's looking every bit like the former five-star prospect who came to Los Angeles to seize a brighter spotlight.
But fifth-year senior Austin Jones is averaging 7.6 yards per carry (106 yards and 3 TDs) and freshman Quinten Joyner is leading the team at 8.1 yards per carry (113 yards, 1 TD).
"The thing about playing on this type of offense, you can't have any egos," Lloyd said. "You've got to be able to compete at a high level and be able to be there for your brother. We're all about brothers and just being there for each other."
Said Rice: "There's a lot of humility. ... It's completely rare. Shoot, being too selfish breaks teams and you see this group of guys knowing that everybody and anybody wants to be that big playmaker, but everybody's going to support each other and that's what it is. That's what make the Trojans a really good team."
Let's take a closer look inside the numbers for USC's offense through three games, using the PFF grades, snap counts and advanced metrics.
