USC Football: How Trojans Are Preparing For Meaningless UCLA Game

Bring on the Bruins!

The USC Trojans saw their season record drop to 7-4 on the year after another loss this past weekend. They went up to Auzten Stadium to face off against the Oregon Ducks and weren't able to come out with a victory.

Now, the Trojans return home for one last game this regular season, and it may be the most important of them all. It's rivalry week, and the Trojans will be facing off against the cross-town UCLA Bruins.

It will be the last time that these two teams face each other as members of the Pac-12, with both heading to the Big-10 next season. This game means everything to the programs, so it'll be a great watch for fans.

Head coach Lincoln Riley gave his thoughts on the Trojans upcoming game against the Bruins, and how they are preparing for it.

“I think what I just said. We’ve got one chance here in the regular season to go play together. We’ve got one more shot in the Coliseum. We’ve got one more chance to play UCLA, longtime historical rival. And I think just for the locker room, these guys have gone through a lot this year. They have hung in there. They’ve kept swinging. There’s a lot of unity in this locker room. And I think they will very much appreciate and cherish one of their last times to play the game together. And that’s what you do. It’s the first game that we’ve played here and USC where you’re out of a championship race. We don’t intend on playing many more like this. But games like this show the character of the program and the character of the people in it. And so we get a chance to go put it on display here Saturday.”

Per Lincoln Riley via WeAreSC

While the game doesn’t mean much in terms of a conference title or playoff potential, this game has bragging rights on the line. The Trojans narrowly took down UCLA a year ago, and they would love nothing more than to keep the claim as the best team in Southern California for another year.

The year hasn’t gone the way that the Trojans would have hoped, but beating UCLA would be a nice cherry on top of the frustrating year. They could take that with them into the offseason, and it would be special for the seniors to beat their rivals once last time.

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