WATCH: USC QB Kedon Slovis discusses preparing for first start

There's no denying it's a compelling storyline. The 3-star prospect who arrived at USC with no fanfare now holding one of the most historically prestigious jobs in college football just two quarters into his Trojans career.

But true freshman quarterback Kedon Slovis is not going to be the one to put that narrative in any kind of deep perspective.

"It was definitely weird waking up Sunday morning, but nothing changes for me -- it's just going out to practice, this time it's just with the 1s instead of the 2s," he said.

His comments Tuesday after practice convey the impression that he's intent on keeping this as normal an experience as can be.

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Every which way he was asked about the big-picture significance and implications of his surge up the depth chart -- beating out veterans Matt Fink and Jack Sears for the backup job in August -- and now taking over following JT Daniels' season-ending knee injury, Slovis instead brought it back to a place of comfort.

"It's just football and it's the same kind of thing, same practice, same everything. Outside of football it's a little bit bigger, but you've got to stay focused on what you're doing," he said.

"I'm just focused on what we're doing here and not focused so much on the outside stuff."

He acknowledged he's gotten a wave of messages in the last few days, but there were none he wanted to note in particular.

As for the actual moment when he realized he was being thrust into the spotlight Saturday night halfway through his first collegiate game ...

"It's nothing you really expect, but as a backup quarterback you always have to be prepared," Slovis said. "It's really unfortunate what happened, but at the end of the day you've got to be the next man up and do your best."

Slovis fared fine in his second-half relief appearance Saturday night in the 31-23 win over Fresno State, completing 6 of 8 passes for 57 yards and an interception. He had a 41-yard completion to Tyler Vaughns on a beautiful downfield strike that set up the Trojans' last touchdown, and he misfired on his other deep throw on a miscommunication with Michael Pittman.

Slovis was asked how many times he'd watched that long hookup with Vaughns since Saturday.

"I didn't watch it too much on film. I saw it on my Twitter feed a lot, but I didn't watch it more than a few times on film," he said with a smile.

And the interception?

"That one I watched a few more times, yeah."

"I could have done a lot of things better, I think, but at the end of the day we got the win and I think that's what's most important," Slovis said.

Outside of those two downfield attempts, USC mostly leaned on the rushing attack and its defense to close out the win.

Head coach Clay Helton and offensive coordinator Graham Harrell said the gameplan will be the same Saturday against Stanford as it would have been if Daniels was starting.

Of course, Slovis had two weeks of getting the backup's share of reps and a full halftime to think about the sudden reality of his unexpected debut Saturday night. Now, he's the centerpiece of the offense this week leading up to kickoff.

"Now going into this game it's definitey easier having that half of experience, even though it was only a half, it will be much easier than coming in cold," Slovis said.

For his part, Daniels offered his support and optimism for Slovis.

"He listens to coaching well and he likes to get better, I'd say are the biggest things that are going to help make Kedon successful," Daniels said. "He's got to go out and perform and he's got a pretty big job to do, but I don't think the moment will be too big for him. I think he'll trust his coaching. I think he'll work really hard to prepare himself for this Saturday and I think he'll go out and do his job."