USC defensive line coach Chad Kauha'aha'a had to catch himself Wednesday as he was reeling off adjectives to praise nose tackle Marlon Tuipulotu -- well, one recurring adjective.

"I keep using the word great, I don't use the word great often, but his effort is through the roof right now," Kauha'aha'a said after practice. "He does it in practice every single day and it's become contagious to the rest of the D-line. These guys are flying around."

There was one play in particular from Saturday night that Kauha'aha'a thought exemplified that tone-setting impact he feels the 6-foot-3, 305-pound redshirt sophomore making.

It was early in the second quarter of USC's 45-20 win over Stanford. The Trojans were mounting their surge and had just trimmed their early deficit to 17-10 when on the first play of the ensuing drive Cardinal running back Cameron Scarlett pounced on a gaping hole up the middle for a 44-yard gain to the USC 32-yard line.

Tuipulotu and fellow defensive tackle Jay Tufele had both taken on double teams to create the hole up the A-gap, which should have freed a linebacker to make the unobstructed tackle, but John Houston looked to be out of position crashing the B gap to the left instead.

The very next play, Tuipulotu took care of business himself, blasting past two layers of blockers to snuff out a screen pass to Dorian Maddox and bring him down for a 2-yard tackle for loss.

"If there's something that showed up, it's Marlon getting that TFL against Stanford when he read the screen, broke the stack and chased that running back down and got the TFL. That's big-time," Kauha'aha'a said.

And to be fair, he had done his job on previous play as well. Tuipulotu's position is not usually about the glamor plays -- it's about controlling the A gap, often eating up those double teams and freeing the linebackers to make the play, if they're in the right spot.

"It's an unselfish position, but if he doesn't do his job, that's when a lot of times things set up in the middle," Kauha'aha'a said. "Between him and the inside linebacker, those guys control the A gaps and it's his job to eat that double team so one of the linebackers can be free."

Among USC defensive players who played a majority of the snaps vs. Stanford, Tuipulotu received the second-highest grade from Pro Football Focus -- a 75.3. In Week 1 against Fresno State, he was USC's top-graded defensive player by PFF at 76.8.

Tuipulotu had 33 tackles and 5.5 tackles for loss last season, and was creating further buzz back in the spring and through the preseason -- so this isn't a surprise. As Kauha'aha'a noted, it's an unselfish position that doesn't always reflect in the stat sheet even when done well, but Tuipulotu does have 9 tackles, a forced fumble and that tackle for loss through those first two games.

"Marlon's a stud," Kauha'aha'a said proudly after the win Saturday night. "... He is by far, I don't want to say the biggest surprise, but he is a guy I lean on a lot."

Said Tufele: "Man, he's just a dog. He's what you want to play next to."

Since he's been hyping him up since the spring, Kauha'aha'a -- in his first year with the Trojans -- was asked Wednesday what was the first moment he realized that Tuipulotu could have such an impact this fall.

The answer -- two jobs ago before he knew either of them would end up working together at USC.

"When I was recruiting him at Oregon State. I knew he had the potential to be a great one. I consider him a great player," Kauha'aha'a said, using that adjective of choice. "He's playing behind the line of scrimmage, playing with great fundamentals and technique, he doesn't make mistakes mentally and his numbers are showing it. After the game like I said, I absolutely love working with the guy because he's such a hard worker. His attention to detail is as good as I've been around.

"What's great about Marlon right now is he's playing with some violence. His physicality is pretty dang good right now where he's coming off of blocks with violence, and that's why he's getting his TFL, that's why he's making plays from his position."