USC quarterback Kedon Slovis had his scheduled weight lifting group shortly after the Pac-12 announced Tuesday that there would be no fall football season for the conference.
The next morning players like safety Talanoa Hufanga were back on the field bright and early going through their conditioning work, as scheduled.
But there is no certainty that a season awaits even in the spring, and both players talked Wednesday about their reaction to the news and their mindset going forward.
"It's something that unfortunately you kind of saw coming from a bit away. If you think a week ago ... with all the restrictions still in place, we knew it wasn't looking good with our season kind of being in jeopardy," Slovis said. "And then yesterday just to have it be solidified was really tough to see. It was kind of weird being at lifting after the news broke on Tuesday, but today I'm really proud of our guys and our team just coming into work and trying to control what we can control.
"It does no good kind of looking back and feeling sorry for ourselves. We've got goals and aspirations for where we want to be as a team, so we've got to work to achieve those and do our best to be ready whenever the next opportunity to play football is."
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Said Hufanga: "Definitely it kind of took us and put us in a state of hurt as players. We love the game and we love to play, and I think Kedon said it best -- you can control what you can control. So at the end of the day I'm just proud of our guys as well as a safety unit showing up this morning and doing our best to get our strength training in and our conditioning in and ultimately try to do our best to keep our goals in sight."
USC coach Clay Helton also praised the response, noting the players showed up Wednesday morning "with the best attitude I have ever seen."
Both players, meanwhile, talked about accountability and motivating each other through this unusual time. Hufanga noted that every player has an accountability partner to keep them on track and keep everyone driving toward a shared goal.
"It's been a big part of what we do -- accountability," Hufanga said. "Accountable is what we preach, especially in the DB crew. We all have partners, we have an accountability partner that makes sure we wake up, we're on time and ready to go each and every day. So you're accountable to one person, if everybody has and does their job then everybody shows up. Like I said, we're taken care of at the highest level, so at the end of the day I feel very comfortable and our teammates feel very comfortable doing what we do."
That accountability, of course, extends to following the precautions and protocols in place. USC has reported just eight positive COVID-19 tests out of 666 conducted since mid-June on student-athletes across six sports who are working out on campus. There have been no positives among athletes on campus in the last three weeks, with one positive for a student as they arrived to campus.
Hufanga said USC is practicing "the highest level" of precaution for player health and safety.
"I think our coaches have done a great job of protecting us and putting the precautions of different things we have to do just to be able to get into the building, to get out of the building -- social distancing. You get used to wearing a mask. It's just part of the game and part of what's going on in our current state," he said.
Both players noted the major difference for them in that regard is not being able to be in the locker room as a full team, or not being able to be as social with teammates in their down time.
"A lot of us can't really do a lot of hanging out, going to somebody else's apartment, playing video games. A lot of the social distancing -- our coaches preach it and we're trying to do our best to keep each and every one of us safe," Hufanga said.
Added Slovis: "The most difficult thing about this entire process and the regulations we have to deal with is we don't see the entire team. We don't go in the locker room, we don't have those same interactions that we're used to, so communication is definitely a lot more difficult. It's a lot more limited. But again, you have to make the most of that. Your lifting group is a small fraction of what it usually is, you're only seeing a quarter of the team that you're used to. It really gives you a new appreciation for being around those guys all the time, and I'm just kind of waiting for that opportunity to get back in the locker room."
The players were asked about a couple other main talking points that have emanated since the Pac-12 announcement Tuesday, including whether they think it's realistic to effectively play two college seasons in the span of one calendar year if there is indeed a spring season.
"It's a great question. A lot of certainty and what's going on and what's going to happen," Hufanga said. "But how I see it is a lot like spring ball. In spring ball it's no joke when we're around Coach Helton. He's going to make sure we're taking care of ... those 15 practices are going to be 15 practices and that's like 15 games when you think about it. Ultimately we're just trying to do our best to get ready for a season, but two seasons in a year is definitely going to be tough on the body, but nothing that we haven't done."
