USC caught a break on tight end Lake McRee's injury, apparently.
While the specifics of the injury sustained vs. Michigan on Saturday haven't been announced, it's not expected to be season-ending -- which is certainly better than most would have assumed in the moment.
"We got good news. He's going to be back this year. He won't be back for sure probably for the next couple of weeks, but some really positive news given the hit," coach Lincoln Riley said.
McRee was seen in tears on the bench after his visit to the medical tent following the big hit, as the tight end had just caught a short pass to the right and turned around just as Michigan defensive back Rod Moore dove into his knees to flip up for a hard tackle
McRee has recovered from two torn ACLs -- the first in high school and the second sustained last December.
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Riley used the opportunity Tuesday to make the case that such hits should be taken out of the sport with a rule change.
"I don't fault the kid from Michigan -- it's legal right now -- but a hit like that does not need to be legal," he said. "You think about all the things in college football, football in general that we've cleaned up. It is very simple to clean up a defenseless player that can't see and you going low on him. Because, I mean, what happened to Lake honestly, he's incredibly lucky. You see it in the NFL, you see it in our game, and that's something that needs to get some attention and get cleaned up. That makes the game no better, and that's something that just should not happen in my opinion."
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McRee is second on the Trojans with 12 catches for 134 yards this season and looked to be in the midst of a career-best season.
With his injury, redshirt freshman tight end Kade Eldridge and true freshman Walker Lyons will step into bigger roles.
"They've practiced really well. Kade obviously had a great spring, and Walker has been doing really well since he got in. So [I have] a tremendous amount of confidence," quarterback Miller Moss said. "I think they're going to do really well and obviously get some more opportunities."
