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USC cornerback Chris Steele played his way into a significant role right away as a freshman last fall. He logged the second-most defensive snaps in a three-way timeshare with fellow corners Olaijah Griffin and Isaac Taylor-Stuart, and Steele finished with the highest season grade of the three from PFF (68.3 -- respectable on their scale).

But, as he put it in a blunt self-assessment, "it definitely wasn't what I wanted my freshman season to be."

"Last year I just wasn't happy with my performance. It was OK, but I wasn't happy with it," Steele added. "I made a promise with myself at the end of the season that I was going to make every play matter. Whether the ball was coming to my side or not, I was going to make sure the receiver, the offensive coordinator, the NFL scouts watching, I wanted to make sure they felt me. That's in practice and everything."

USC had just one non-padded spring practice before the coronavirus pandemic shut everything down, but Steele indeed made his presence felt that day, jawing with the wide receivers after every one-on-one rep and treating a Wednesday in mid-March as if it was a Saturday in September.

Steele joined the Trojan Talk podcast to explain how that mentality has extended through this unique time where players have spent the last two and a half months back at home away from campus. He also explains why physically he is much more prepared for the kind of breakout season he expects of himself.

**LISTEN TO THE FULL PODCAST HERE**

"There was also a lot that was going on prior to me coming to 'SC with the whole transfer situation. I didn't really have the time -- I was too caught up in making the right decision after leaving Florida that I didn't really give myself the opportunity to prepare for coming into 'SC," he said. "I was really just sitting around for two months, so the season came around I didn't get the [outcome] I expected and I can't blame anybody but myself. Once I realized that, it was like, all right, well I have to sit down and really make plans and think about what I wanted to do."

He's looked for some positives out of this tough situation, like applying his extra time to watching and rewatching film from his freshman season -- both to make notes on his own technique and on what he can expect from the returning Pac-12 playmakers and offensive coordinators he'll see again in 2020.

All the while, he's worked to build up his body, calling on the trainers he used during high school to help him become one of the most coveted recruits in the 2019 class, and staying committed to making sure the pandemic didn't provide any excuse for the fall.

"I'm expecting very big things out of myself. I definitely think after the season I'll be a contender for one of the top corners in college football. I say that with confidence just because soon enough preparation is going to meet opportunity," Steele said. "And I've been working my tail off every single day just trying to stay in the playbook, making sure I'm fixing all the little flaws in my game."

As he mentioned, Steele's preseason lead-up last year had as much to do with figuring out his future as it did with preparing for his present.

As fans well know, after a series of commitment changes (including USC at one point), he signed with Florida and went through spring practice with the Gators before entering the transfer portal, briefly committing to Oregon and ultimately ending up at USC.

A side-effect of all that shuffling and mental stress is that Steele entered his freshman season at pretty much the same size/weight he finished his senior year at St. John Bosco High School.

"It's crazy to say it, I played my senior year at Bosco at 185 [and] I played my whole freshman season from 182-185. I don't think I was any bigger than 185 and I ended the season at like 183," Steele said. "So that's definitely the main thing. I wasn't eating the right food, I wasn't really putting [in] the effort to take care of my body. So that was really the main focus for me, and then obviously my technique, working on the little things, being more fluid in and out of my breaks and stuff."

Steele says he's up to 193-196 pounds after adding muscle to his frame.

"My body feels real good, I feel more explosive than ever," he said.

Steele noted that he made a point to stay on the same schedule during this pandemic that he'd be on if he were on campus and working out at the team facility. That means waking up between 6:30-7 a.m. every day to maximize his hours.

Four times a week he does speed work with a trainer he's used for years, and the other days he's out in Long Beach working one-on-one drills with a mix of NFL and fellow college players. That list has included NFL wide receivers John Ross and Victor Bolden, USC teammate Amon-Ra St. Brown, former Trojans and current Ravens DB Biggie Marshall and Ole Miss QB Matt Corral and Ohio State QB signee C.J. Stroud throwing passes.

"Right now I'm really just taking advantage of having all the talent in the area again, from just going against all these different dudes," Steele said.

The big name of that group is Ross, the No. 9 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals who had 506 receiving yards and 3 touchdowns over just eight games last season.

"John Ross is real good. I think I probably got him about two out of six times -- I'd say two out of six times -- so I'm holding my own. But even when he does get me it's just him having strong hands. He's a league guy, so there's little techniques he knows how to use, but I'm always in position so that's all that matters for me right now, just making sure I'm in the right position with things," Steele said.

He's also watched a lot of film from last season that he's also gone over with new USC cornerbacks coach Donte Williams.

RELATED: Chris Steele goes in-depth on his connection with USC CBs coach Donte Williams

"Yeah, all the time. I was just on the phone with Coach Donte earlier. Just the little things he's taught me already, I'll go back and watch the film from last year," Steele said. "The Notre Dame for example, just game-swinging plays that I could have had that I was one step off or something. The post that I broke up on Chase Claypool, he [set me up] outside to break inside. All receivers do that and I knew it was coming, but at that moment of the game -- it's a big game, I'm a freshman playing at Notre Dame at that -- so my technique would be a little off and things. If I would have put myself in a better position I could have picked that ball off. Just things like that. I think that's really been another good thing about this, I've really had the time to go back and really re-watch my film from last year and see the little things I have to correct."

Steele has high expectations for himself, but so too do USC fans. That comes with being a 5-star recruit who was ranked the No. 3 cornerback and No. 19 overall prospect in the 2019 class.

Again, the advanced metrics say he had a pretty encouraging first season all things considered.

He played 548 defensive snaps while managing that three-way cornerback split. With Taylor-Stuart working his way back from knee surgery, Steele and Griffin should be locked in as the starting corners entering the fall.

Last season, per PFF's data, Steele allowed 26 receptions on 45 passes to the receivers he was covering for 366 yards and 3 TDs. He actually started very strong in that category, allowing 10 completions on 22 targets through the first seven games before opponents had more success against him down the stretch of the season.

But the touchdowns stick with him the most, he says, and he wants to register in the turnover department this year.

Williams' main critique to Steele has been his technique at the start of the play, and making sure he stays square long enough to not give the receiver a free release up field.

Steele has sent Williams some clips from those Long Beach workouts, including a series of highlight plays against Bolden, the former Oregon State wide receiver who is now with the Detroit Lions.

"I sent Donte a couple videos of me having a couple pass breakups, I think I had a pick on him, and Donte calls me and he didn't even tell me I did good. It was, 'You won and you didn't even do this, this or this right.' I love that about him because he really pushes me to my limits every day and that's what I need," Steele said.

USC largely kept its cornerbacks on the same respective side of the field last season, but Williams prefers using boundary and field corners -- the boundary corner being the one covering the shorter side of the field depending on the where the ball is set between the hash marks.

The way it's looking now, Steele will start at the boundary corner spot with Taylor-Stuart rotating back in when healthy and Jayden Williams behind him as well, while Griffin will start at the field corner spot with Dorian Hewett and Adonis Otey behind him.

Steele also likes that there might be some opportunities in new coordinator Todd Orlando's defense for him to blitz the quarterback.

"I'm expecting myself to have a really big season -- a couple interceptions, make a few hits off the quarterback when I'm blitzing off the edge, things like that," he reiterated. "I'm real excited about it."