Lincoln Riley gave a brief and vague update on wide receiver Mario Williams and linebacker Eric Gentry on Thursday, after each has missed the last three games.
"They’ve progressed. I expect them to be available on Saturday," Riley said.
Now, what available means is anyone's guess.
Wide receiver Jordan Addison was available last week in his return from injury and logged just 30 snaps, making 1 catch for 2 yards while resting the second half.
That was by design in his first game back from the lower leg injury sustained last month at Utah -- and it was also against a one-win Colorado team.
"We knew we were going to keep him in the 20-play range and let him get out there and move around. We didn't want to overdo anything, " Riley said earlier this week. "... It was good for him to just get out there and get some confidence back in moving around. I mean, he's doing nothing but progressed. He certainly wasn't 100 percent the other night, but we expect he will be this week."
Whether he is or not, Addison said that's how he'll feel come kickoff Saturday afternoon when No. 7 USC (9-1, 7-1 Pac-12) visits No. 16 UCLA (8-2, 5-2) in the Rose Bowl.
"[When] game time come around, I always feel 100," Addison said.
Utah was the last opponent with a winning record that USC faced, and losing Addison and Gentry during that game most definitely took a toll on the way to a stinging 43-42 loss for the team's lone blemish of the season.
"The hardest part for me was just not being able to finish that game for my team," Addison said, speaking to reporters earlier this week for the first time since the injury. "I feel like I let them down a little bit, just not being able to finish it through. I feel like if I was playing I could have contributed and made a difference."
He acknowledged he shared the same concern many Trojans fans did when he took that awkward hit along the sideline at Utah and limped to the locker room.
"At first I thought it was going to be longer than what it was, just how it looked and how it felt coming down on the sideline, but we've got great trainers and they helped me get back out here as fast as I could," Addison said.
Even with missing 2.5 games and then playing a limited role last week, Addison still leads the Trojans with 40 catches for 587 yards and 7 touchdowns.
Williams, meanwhile, is third on the team with 26 catches for 493 yards and 4 touchdowns despite missing three full games. His extended absence has been more of a surprise as he was a late scratch going into the game against Arizona three weeks ago as Riley said the staff had thought he was going to play up until then. He also ran around freely in pregame warmups last week before again being relegated to the sideline. The nature of his injury has not been specified.
Equally unclear is what happens to the wide receiver rotation overall when Addison and Williams are both at full strength.
In their stead over those last three games, Tahj Washington (16 catches for 296 yards and 4 TDs), Kyle Ford (10-203-1) and Michael Jackson III (8-134-2 with 72 rushing yards, all coming in two games) have stepped up into larger roles.
Riley was asked Thursday morning if those receivers -- along with Brenden Rice, who has gotten steady playing time all year but put up his best numbers the last three games (10-149-2) -- will continue to stay involved in the game plan or if the rotation reverts back to where it was early in the season.
