USC's football players spoke with reporters Wednesday for the first time since their scheduled game this week at Cal was postponed to Dec. 4 due to COVID obstacles within the Golden Bears' program.

The Trojans shared how they learned of the news the day before and their reactions to it.

"As specialists, we were warming up doing our usual routine, we got called inside and I think the rest of the team was about to go into meetings and we just had a team meeting and coach told us the news," punter Ben Griffiths said. "Then we kind of moved on with the situation and started preparing as well as we can for UCLA."

The schools agreed to reschedule for Dec. 4 rather than have the Pac-12 decide if Cal would have to forfeit the game, and the USC players expressed their support for that decision.

"I'm just happy that it's not a forfeiture -- we still get to play these guys," safety Isaiah Pola-Mao said.

Said Griffiths: "Obviously pretty disappointed, but we understand the situation and at the end of the day we're just really happy we get the chance to play the game at a later date."

USC (4-5, 3-4 Pac-12) needs to win two of its final three games to become bowl eligible.

Interim head coach Donte Williams had said Tuesday that his team would accept a bowl invite if it earns one, though that is a decision usually made by the athletics administration in instances with an interim coach, a staff that will be in flux right after the season and a new head coach yet to be hired.

It's unclear if Williams has discussed the matter with athletic director Mike Bohn or if he was just answering from his own perspective.

The USC players who met with reporters Wednesday reiterated his sentiments, though.

"I would say it's everything. We want to finish out this season strong and a bowl game is just a reward of that," Pola-Mao said.

Added Griffiths: "A big part of going to a bowl game is earning it and I think that's why I'm grateful we still get that game on the 4th -- I don't think we should just be handed it. I know for me I came here to play in bowl games. I know everyone else came here to play in bowl games. It's very much a big reason why we play and I want to go to a bowl game."

The Trojans are taking it easy this week with players who are working through injuries, but running back Keaontay Ingram downplayed any concerns about the ankle rolled during the game at Arizona State on Saturday.

He confirmed it was the same ankle he sprained in fall camp.

"I feel great. You know, running back, you're always going to be banged up, but other than that I feel great. Having a little more time to get ready for a football game, that's tremendous for me so I'm just taking full advantage of it. But I feel great," he said.

Ingram rushed for 54 yards on 14 carries while coming in and out of the game down the stretch after the injury, trying to work through the injury on the sidelines when he wasn't on the field.

That snapped a streak of five straight games with at least 70 rushing yards for Ingram, including a 204-yard performance the previous week. It was also a significant dropoff in carries from 24 and 27 the previous two games, with the injury certainly factoring into that.

But none of USC's running backs had any success as the Trojans' three backs averaged 3.2 yards per carry collectively over 21 attempts in the first game without star receiver Drake London, where there was more defensive focus on the run game.

"In the box they always had one extra hat, regardless if that might be a linebacker or safety. Also, they were stunting a little bit and also adding a cornerback in the free runs so it was a little bit different. Nothing too much we haven't seen throughout the season, but it is kind of hard to run against a loaded box," Ingram said.

USC is effectively on a bye week routine this week with no more media access until next Tuesday.

The Trojans will not practice Thursday but will hold closed practices Friday and Saturday while getting an early start on the rivalry matchup with UCLA the following week.

"I'd compare it to the Notre Dame week a little bit just because we had the extra week to prepare and kind of just break down our opponent," cornerback Chris Steele said. "For a lot of us, that was some of our best games. Obviously it wasn't the outcome that we wanted, but I feel like everybody played to their max potential that game so just having an extra week to prepare for UCLA is going to be huge. They're going to try to come out with a lot of different things, so to just have the extra time to prepare for it is huge."