Cliff Kirkpatrick

Oregon State football coach Mike Riley and Southern California coach Pete Carroll did their weekly Pacific-10 Conference media teleconference Tuesday. Both teams have mini byes in preparation for the Sept. 25 game in Reser Stadium.

Riley was complimentary of the Trojans, of course. However, he sees a difficult game ahead judging from his comments:

“It’s pretty interesting,” Riley said of watching recent USC films. “That team is hitting on all cylinders, and doing a very good job. They don’t appear to have any weakness. We have a daunting task, but it’s not always the best team that wins, but the team that plays the best game that day. We hope we can play our perfect game that day.”

Is that USC’s best team ever?
“It might be,” Riley said. “It’s hard to distinguish. They’ve had good teams and national champions. It’s really a good football team; they have speed and size on defense that’s overwhelming. On offense they are balanced, talented and well-coached.”

Will you use the film from the 2006 win?
“We look at a lot of film, and I don’t know if we’ll go back to that film,” Riley said. “We took advantage of an opportunity then. We have some guys still here from then and they understand that.”

USC returns to practice today and will go through Thursday. After two days off, it’s OSU prep starting Sunday. Carroll is focused on his team this week, just like Riley, working the younger players. However, Carroll doesn’t expect an easy game with the rebuilding Beavers.

“We’ve had difficult times the last two times in Corvallis,” Carroll said. “I don’t know why that was. I know why that was in the second game. We turned the ball over a bunch in the first half. They capitalized and took advantage of it. The first one was a hard-fought game in that wild fog game.”

National media anointed this the best USC team ever after the easy dismantling of the Ohio State last weekend. Carroll said coming off a big win is just as tough as a big loss, so he’s not following his hype.

“We played two nice football games, and that’s it,” Carroll said. “We are not through the first quarter of the season, yet. To say that, that’s a bit hasty.”

Post practice updates
S Greg Laybroun (stinger) returned to practice Tuesday, but took it easy. He’ll be ready for the next game, he said.

“I’m feeling a lot better,” Laybourn said. “I’m not doing much other than icing and rehab. My neck was a little sore after the game. I’m not worried about it. But the time we get to the game it will be none issue.”

PK Justin Kahut (hip, butt) is taking the week off, and should practice again Saturday, he said. If he practices without an issue, he’ll kick for the next game, Riley said.

Tweet This Post 

Related posts:

1. More Riley roundtable (updated)
2. Cliff: USC after Riley?
3. Cliff: Offseason football, Riley
4. Cliff: Leftover Riley interview
5. Cliff: Riley talks contract