With 79 NFL first-round draft picks and 493 overall selections, USC is by any reasonable estimation among the most successful college football programs in NCAA history.
Even though the Trojans (1-3, 0-2 Pac-12) have slumped through the first third of their season, they still possess plenty of talent, from special teams ace and junior defensive back Adoree' Jackson to junior wideout JuJu Smith-Schuster and redshirt senior left tackle Zach Banner.
Examining the USC roster, it will likely be hard to find names that aren't recognizable to even the most casual follower of college football.
"You see a lot of NFL talent, ain't no bones about it," defensive backs coach T.J. Rushing said. "You see a star-studded lineup."
ASU football head coach Todd Graham said going up against talented receivers from NAU, Texas Tech, and Cal have prepared the Sun Devils (4-0, 1-0) well for USC.
"This is the best receiving corps, probably top to bottom in the league that we're going to play," Graham said. "We've got to do a good job tackling in space and a great job with our coverages."
But after locking down one of the top receivers in the country in Cal redshirt junior Chad Hansen, sophomore cornerback Kareem Orr isn't going to be intimidated by anyone – no matter how great of a size mismatch he might face.
Sick of trying to upload this video over and over so I GIF’d it instead – here's defensive line coach Joe Seumalo overseeing 1-on-1 drills: pic.twitter.com/JSz8uie3bQ
— Stefan Modrich (@StefanJModrich) September 27, 2016
Orr mentioned senior wide receiver Darreus Rogers as an emergent deep threat for USC and its new starting quarterback, redshirt freshman Sam Darnold.
"(Rogers) is a real deep threat," Orr said. "I think he's a bit taller and a little faster than JuJu as well.
"They're going to both come to either side, and I'm going to get a fair amount of both of them, so we're just going to stick to our game plan that we have."
Smith-Schuster had two touchdowns against ASU in a 42-14 win for the Trojans last year. Orr said the defensive backs are breaking down the film from the last game.
"We're going to go back and look at it," Orr said. "We just need to eliminate those big plays that we gave up."
Rushing said he has noticed improvements each week with his players studying opposing schemes and making wise adjustments and reads on a variety of talented quarterbacks and skill players.
"You see the light come on every week around the second half," Rushing said. "Now it's about just keeping it on, making sure that it's on throughout the week and in the first quarter on Saturdays."
Reach the reporter at smodrich@asu.edu or follow @StefanJModrich on Twitter.
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