USC Football: Why Mason Cobb Enjoys Challenge Of Rib Injury

Cobb doesn't let anything faze him

The USC Trojans are a full go as they face their arch-rival and the biggest challenge of the seaosn thus far in Notre Dame. The Trojans narrowly escaped in their win last week against the 3-3 Arizona Wildcats. 

Luckily, the defnese showed up when it did and when it counted in their triple- OT win—specifically, their star transfer linebacker, Mason Cobb. Cobb collected the tackle for loss to finally put Arizona to bed on Saturday. 

Cobb went above and beyond in their win, including the game-winning tackle. He did all that and more on top of having injured ribs. But none of that stopped him from performing the best he could and showing why he came to USC. 

The Oklahoma State transfer, fighting through a nagging rib injury, sniffed out Arizona’s toss play to DJ Williams and instead of going over the blocks like he did earlier, he sliced between them. He had a free lane. He won the game, sealing a

43-41 triple-overtime victory

for the No. 9 Trojans at the Coliseum on Saturday by enveloping the Arizona running back on a tackle with USC defensive back Prophet Brown during Arizona’s final two-point conversion attempt.

After the No. 9 Trojans (6-0, 4-0 Pac-12) coasted through their first three home games, winning them by an average of 42 points, Cobb soaked in the roar of the home crowd as he shouted to his celebrating teammates.

(via LA Times)

Although the Trojans were heavy favorites over the Wildcats (21 points, to be exact), they still managed to give their fans a heart attack and spoil their season in Week 6. However, Cobb didn't want it any other way in the contest, saying he relishes close contests regardless of who it's against. 

“To me, personally, I don’t want to win by 40 points. I get bored,” Cobb said. “You want that grind … that grit, man.”

(via LA Times)

That's not what many fans wanted and expected, but the win is the most important thing. Cobb and the defense will need more of that game-winning stop times 100 against the Fighting Irish.