USC RB Markese Stepp: 'I don't think it's the best that I can be'
Markese Stepp certainly looked like his old self Saturday at Arizona, as he avoided an initial tackler, found a hole to the left and kicked on the jets down the left sideline for a 49-yard gain.
Even if he doesn't feel like he's totally back to 100 percent yet.
"It was a long road," Stepp said Tuesday, referring to the torn ligaments in his left ankle that ended his 2019 season more than a year ago. "I still feel like there's a little room for improvement as far as getting my ankle stronger. I feel the best that I have been, but I don't think it's the best that I can be."
Stepp's recovery from ankle surgery has been far tougher than anyone imagined at the time -- he even tried to practice ahead of USC's bowl game last December with hopes of proving he was ready. Instead, more than six months later, in late June, Stepp told TrojanSports.com that he was in the final 10 percent of his rehab. This preseason, running backs coach Mike Jinks said Stepp was "pretty dang close."
The delay to the 2020 season may have served him well as Stepp earned enough confidence from the coaches to garner 14 and 12 carries in the first two games.
After managing 53 yards and a touchdown in the opener, the redshirt sophomore truly signaled his return this past Saturday at Arizona while rushing for 82 yards and a touchdown and finishing with a 6.8 yards-per-carry average thanks to that 49-yard burst.
"Just going in there everyday to rehab, working, just trying to get better, has definitely helped me with my confidence and getting back -- just playing fast and playing the way I know how to play," Stepp said.
USC has stuck with a three-man rotation at running back so far with senior Stephen Carr playing 68 snaps through two games, redshirt senior Vavae Malepeai playing 58 and Stepp playing 40, per PFF, yet Stepp leads the team with 26 carries to Carr's 22 and Malepeai's 13.
"I think it's been great. We get it done by committee, and I think we're all capable of playing at a high level. It's just a matter of who's number is called," Stepp said. "... I think any of us can get it done on any given day. It's just our preparation and our focus when we are in practice."
Stepp led USC running backs in yards per carry last season at 6.4, and due to injuries to Carr and Malepeai he was in line for his largest workload in that 2019 Arizona game in which he injured the ankle. Since then he's been waiting for this opportunity to start anew on trying to establish himself in a crowded Trojans backfield.
He may not feel like he's all the way back yet, but that 49-yard run Saturday, a fourth-and-1 conversion and his second touchdown of the season all made for a good start.
"Markese has done a lot of great things. Markese, if you look at him last year, he really was getting hot and getting on a roll, and he's a tough back to tackle. He sees things well. I think he has, a lot of it's just a natural feel for space and where the ball's supposed to hit," offensive coordinator Graham Harrell said. "... You can't teach guys stuff like that, you know what I mean? So to have a lot of that is just feel. He has a natural feel for where that ball's gonna hit and then he's a load to take down when he does run into someone. So you put those two things together and you got a pretty special football player.
"So that's what 'Kese has done a really good job of and coming off the injury. Last week he looked more confident than the first week. So hopefully every week that he's back he's just gonna continue to get better and better and more and more confident and he just makes the run game that much better."
