Junior cornerback Chris Steele may understand the USC-UCLA rivalry as well as anyone on this Trojans team.

He's played in the game twice -- two Trojans wins -- and was initially committed to UCLA early in his circuitous recruitment before ultimately ending up at USC.

"I actually had a funny picture that popped up on my Snapchat, five years ago today I was actually holding the Fours Up. I definitely always think about it, but I’m glad I’m here. Wouldn’t rather be anywhere else," Steele said after practice Wednesday.

For the toll this wayward season has surely taken on many of USC's coaches and players, Steele didn't seem burdened by any of that -- this week, at least -- as the Trojans (4-5, 3-4 Pac-12) prepare to host the rival Bruins (6-4, 4-3) in the Coliseum on Saturday.

RELATED: Watch interviews with USC's defensive players after practice Wednesday

UCLA is bowl-eligible for the first time under embattled coach Chip Kelly while the slumping Trojans need to win two of their final three games to qualify for a potential postseason invite.

But it sounded, at least from the players who talked after practice Wednesday, that the focus for now is squarely on winning this game and the isolated satisfaction that would bring amidst a very unsatisfying season.

"I feel like today was the most energetic I've seen this team in a long time, I'd say. I don't know if it's because it's getting so close to this game, but everybody's energy and juice is there so I'm really excited to go out there," Steele said. "... Everybody seems really excited, everybody's been, shoot, this is the first time in a long time I've seen that many dudes out that early to practice for pre-practice and stuff, so that just tells me -- that lets you know where guys' heads are. Everybody's trying to really put their best foot forward against this team."

Said veteran defensive end Nick Figueroa, whose final recruiting decision came down to the wire with USC and UCLA: "We can say what we want about our previous parts of the season, but you compete in this game, win this game and it's a successful season."

That might not be how it's remembered overall, but a win over UCLA -- heck, any win at this point -- would certainly be a boost.

USC hasn't won fewer than five games since going 3-8 in 1991, so a win in one of these last three games vs. UCLA, BYU and at Cal would at least avoid the ignominy of having the program's worst season in 30 years. Two wins would qualify the Trojans for a bowl game.

Ultimately, a total reset is coming regardless once a new head coach is hired, but as for the remaining stakes of this season that -- and competing for the Victory Bell this week -- is what is on the table.

"You already know, when it comes to UCLA, man, we always have a lot of juice. We're ready just to get out there and show what we've got," junior pass rusher Drake Jackson said. "... No one wants to lose at all, so we're just playing to win at this point."

Most of these Trojans -- the juniors and younger players -- only know success in this rivalry as USC was won the last two meetings, including the wild 43-38 comeback victory last year.

And those that have now been through the rivalry talked about how this game is indeed different than others, regardless of what either team has done to that point of the season.

"I can even notice watching last year's film there's just a little bit different of a pop of the pads when we play UCLA, so I'm excited for us to go out there with that opportunity," Figueroa said.

Defensive coordinator Todd Orlando said he felt it last year even playing in an empty Rose Bowl with no fans in the stadium for the game due to the pandemic.

"They're going to go out and they're going to go and play really, really hard and really, really fast, and that's the part I like about it because there is a little notch up," he said. "We didn't play last year in front of a whole fan base last year in our game, it was empty, but I'm telling you that was as spirited a game and it was back and forth and if you watch it on TV you didn't get [the same] sense of it being on the field. It was as competitive of you make a play, we make a play, this is going down to the wire, and we expect the same thing.

"It's pretty cool that you get teams like that, just the history of it, to be a part of it, they're going to be excited. I know both sides will be excited and I think once you get to the game itself, I think it will be respectful, guys will play really, really hard and it should be a hell of a game."

Earlier this week, UCLA linebacker Bo Calvert got the rivalry trash talk going by referring to USC as "the little boys across the street."

Even though, again, the Trojans have won the last two meetings and pretty much had their way with the Bruins defense, averaging 47.5 points and 543.5 yards in those two games ...

The USC players were clearly told not to engage in a war of words.

"I can't really say what I want to say, but I'm looking forward to playing against all of them," Steele said, smiling when asked why he had to hold back. "I just can't do it."

Said Jackson: "Let them talk. We'll see them when we see them."

Orlando had some very encouraging things to say about freshman Maximus Gibbs, who made the transition from offensive guard to nose tackle midway through the season.

Orlando admitted the coaches didn't expect to use the 6-foot-7, 390-pound Gibbs for more than a few plays here or there, mainly just to be a body in the middle, but he's progressed beyond those initial expectations.

He's played 13 and 11 defensive snaps the last two games, notching 2 tackles with 1 tackle for loss.

"Max was a guy that we thought just could fill up gaps and just be a bigger body and be stouter, and now he's starting to play full-time for us and he's starting to figure things out. He's not a finished product at all, but if you think about three months ago he was an offensive lineman that we were just kind of a little bit of we need him, we're not going to play him a lot, maybe five or six plays, and all of a sudden we look at him and he's playing [significant snaps], now he's making tackles and it's like, you know what, this could really work out," Orlando said.

"And I think you're seeing him start to figure things out and I think you're starting to see him give us just some size. That's what we need more than anything else is not getting pushed around inside. He's doing that consistently, now we're doing some stuff schematically with him where we're moving him around and he's starting to pick that stuff up. And that's always the hardest thing. ... He feels good about it, we feel good about it. We were probably about 75 percent sure that this would work, but now he's made us a true believer into it so that's the really cool part about it."

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Freshman defensive end Korey Foreman (concussion) and freshman tight end Michael Trigg (knee) were not dressed for practice.