USC Football Notes: Jacobe Covington's breakthrough, Mason Cobb's toughness

Mason Cobb was one of three Trojans to play all 80 defensive snaps Saturday night -- along with safety Calen Bullock and nickel Jaylin Smith -- as he continues to be a mainstay in the middle of the USC defense.

More impressive than his stat line (6 tackles, 0.5 tackle for loss), though, was his revelation after the game that he was playing through a painful rib injury.

"My rib came out of place somewhere in the second quarter or third quarter. That was bothering me, breathing and all that stuff, but I love the pain of the game. That's what it's all about," Cobb said.

"It's been out for a couple weeks, been practicing through it, trying to get it back, but yeah, it came out. It was either second quarter or third quarter, I can't remember. It was when I hit the quarterback, kind of knocked the air out of myself, but yeah, it's still healing it up. That's the problem, I've got to let it heal up."

Cobb has played more snaps than any USC linebacker in each of the three games since he returned from a two-game injury absence. He ranks fourth on the defense with 301 total snaps played despite missing those two games. He ranks third on the team with 26 tackles and 4.5 tackles for loss.

Despite playing through pain for much of the night, Cobb saved his best moment for last as he and cornerback Prophet Brown brought down Arizona running back DJ Williams behind the line of scrimmage to end the game in the third overtime and give USC a 43-41 win.