Freshman quarterback Kedon Slovis was back on the practice field for USC on Tuesday, having been medically cleared for non-contact work a day earlier, and afterward he shared what the past week and half entailed following his concussion against Utah.

"The next day, that weekend was pretty bad. [I just stayed in] a dark room, lights off," Slovis said.

Coach Clay Helton noted that Slovis isn't yet cleared for contact, but with USC on a bye, it stands to reason that he'd be ready to play when the Trojans head to Notre Dame next week.

"It's good to get him back out here, get him throwing and get him exerted, which is good. ... We'll see where we are medically going into next week," Helton said.

Offensive coordinator Graham Harrell, meanwhile, confirmed the obvious, that Slovis will reclaim the starting job when he's ready.

"If Kedon's healthy, we named him No. 2 [behind injured starter JT Daniels] because we thought he gave us our best chance to win," Harrell said. "Like I said from the beginning, I think Kedon's a special player, but player health is obviously, you've got to take care of those guys -- especially when it comes to head injuries. … When he does get healthy, like I said, I plan on playing him."

Slovis was knocked out on the second play of USC's win over Utah two Fridays ago, taking a hard hit and slamming the back of his helmet on the ground as he landed. He tried to get up and stumbled before eventually being tendeded to on the field.

On Tuesday, Slovis recalled his perspective on that moment.

"I remember throwing it to Amon-Ra. I knew the guy was going to come and hit me. The hit wasn't bad -- it was me hitting my head on the turf. But yeah, the lights went out once I hit the ground," he said.

"I remember just being on the ground, kind of not knowing how long I had been there. I heard [running back Vavae Malepeai] say 'Hey, stay down' so in my head I was like, 'Oh, they're going to come get me, the trainers, so I need to get up.' And I blacked out again."

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He said he had headaches for the following week along with nausea. "Normal concussion symptoms -- nothing crazy," he said.

He went on the road trip with USC to Washington and watched the 28-14 loss from the sidelines while starting to feel better this weekend. By Monday the headaches were gone and he was medically cleared to resume football activities.

As Slovis told TrojanSports.com back in December, he had to convince his mother to let him play football and the agreement was that if he got one concussion he'd be done. Well, his first concussion came a year ago during his senior season at Desert Mountain High School in Scottsdale. By that point, he was committed to USC so the conditions no longer applied.

But the second concussion was surely a concern for his parents, who were in the Coliseum and accompanied him into the locker room after the game.

"Mom was a little concerned, as always. I think all moms would be, but they know we've got a great medical staff here. We had four nuerologists in the room with me so it wasn't like I was in bad hands," Slovis said.

As for watching the loss at Washington, he tried to stay engaged on the sideline.

Meanwhile, third-string QB Matt Fink -- who put up big stats in replacing Slovis the rest of that Utah game -- tossed three interceptions in the 28-14 loss to the Huskies while making his first career start.

"You always love playing football, but whenever you have an injury you always miss it that much more so it was great to be out here and throw some balls," Slovis said Tuesday.

"It was tough, Matt came in and did his best, everyone fought really hard. It was a little different perspective being on the sidelines and being able to be a leader that way, but definitely wish you could be out there and play."

-Safety Talanoa Hufanga (concussion/shoulder) is also cleared for non-contact work after missing the Washington game.

-Cornerback Olaijah Griffin (back), who also missed the Washington game, "felt good today, practiced," Helton said. "I would expect him to be back for the next game, so hopefully this is a week that allows us to catch up health-wise and get a healthier ball club going into South Bend."

-To that end, USC rested wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and running back Vavae Malepeai on Tuesday.

"There are some guys who have been really playing through some hurts and pains, and Ra has been playing with not only a [sore] foot but a shoulder and fighting through it," Helton said. "Christian Rector has been playing with that high-ankle sprain and really fighting through it, Vavae you saw the knee a couple weeks ago and has really been fighting through that. To be able to shut them down just for a couple days and allow them to catch back up and allow those things to heal is really important."

-Backup tight end Josh Falo has a sprained MCL in his knee and is out indefinitely. Helton said freshman Jude Wolfe could be in line for some snaps in his place, though Falo was used sparingly to this point of the season and had just 2 catches for 18 yards this season.

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In reflecting back on his struggles at Washington, Fink said "the best thing about that is it's over with now."

"We can move on and learn from it. There's nothing that we can't learn from," he said.

Fink finished 19 of 32 for 163 yards, 1 TD, 3 INTs and a rushing touchdown.