A lot has been said about the value of the experience sixth-year senior Mekhi Blackmon brings to an otherwise young and inexperienced cornerback group for USC.

On Saturday at Stanford, that experience manifested into one of the plays of the game.

After the Trojans scored on their opening drive, Stanford had marched 12 plays the other way to the USC 2, on the brink of tying the game and setting the tone for what easily could have been a shootout given the defensive struggles on both sides.

But on fourth-and-goal, as Stanford quarterback Tanner McKee lofted the ball to the front left side of the end zone to 6-foot-3 Elijah Higgins, the 6-foot Blackmon drew upon his past experience against the Cardinal and was ready for it, leaping up to tip the ball in the air before catching it for a huge interception.

"I had played Stanford in the COVID year and they had tried me like two times with it, and I happened to deflect both of them. I anticipated the same thing coming [Saturday] and when he threw it I was able to tip it up," Blackmon shared Tuesday after practice.

It was Blackmon's third career interception and first in his two games as a Trojan.

The coaching staff had lauded the veteran Colorado transfer all spring and fall camp, noting that he was making big plays in USC's closed practices, but Blackmon's performance against Stanford really crystallized his abilities for fans and observers.

Per PFF, Blackmon was targeted a team-high 10 times by the Cardinal, allowing just 3 completions for 48 yards. He did draw three pass interference penalties, but coach Lincoln Riley had no qualms with Blackmon's aggressive play.

"He was awesome. He was awesome," Riley said Tuesday. "He gave up one glance ball that came out of technique a little bit. Other than that, it was PBUs, interceptions, competitive plays. I think he had one interference call, which was textbook coverage. I hope he covers like that every single [game] this year. And even a couple that were caught on him were extremely competitive plays.

"So we like him matched up against anybody, the way he's playing and competing. The guys he goes against here in practice are good players and it's a battle every single day. That's a one-on-one matchup that we're very comfortable with."

The Trojans had a feeling Blackmon would be busy Saturday, so that too came as no surprise to him.

"I knew it was going to happen because Stanford is a strong boundary [passing] team, so this past week my coaches had me going to the boundary as much as I could. I knew I was going to get a lot of action," he said.

Although he was at a size disadvantage against Stanford's bevy of tall receivers, Blackmon said he made a point to play physical with them the whole game (hence the penalties) and make them uncomfortable.

As his interception came so early in the game, he noted that he had to quickly move past it to make sure he delivered a complete performance.

"That's the life of a DB. I got the pick I believe in the [first quarter] so the pick doesn't matter anymore because I could have got scored on and the pick is erased. You've got to move onto the next play -- what you did before doesn't matter," he said.