Healthy Jordan Addison ready to show he's 'back' this week against UCLA

USC sits at No. 7 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings, its only loss by one point to No. 10 Utah in a thrilling game. There’s a ton to play for and the Trojans are getting key players back again at the right time, with a healthy Jordan Addison ready to show his stuff again in a pivotal showdown with No. 16 UCLA this weekend.

Addison suffered a leg injury that sidelined him against Arizona and California recently, but he returned last week in a win over Colorado. He didn’t impact the game much but plans to change that this week against the Bruins.

“I feel like I’m back,” Addison told reporters on Tuesday. “I’m going to show y’all this week, though.”

The former Pittsburgh star and reigning Biletnikoff Award winner tallied just one catch for two yards in the win over the Buffaloes.

Obviously he’ll hope to make a bigger impact in a vital Pac-12 showdown with conference title game — and College Football Playoff — implications. Getting a chance to shake the rust off last week was a real positive.

“It felt good just to touch the ball again,” Addison said. “My family was in the stands, so that’s always a good thing to let them know that I’m OK and back out there ready to play.”

So far this season for the Trojans Addison has racked up 40 catches for 587 yards and seven touchdowns. He’s also run the ball three times for 20 yards.

Healthy Jordan Addison could lift USC over cross-town rivals

The UCLA-USC series has been fairly even over the past few years, split 2-2 in the last four. UCLA won last year’s meeting 62-33.

But this one will be significanly higher stakes. USC sits at 9-1, while UCLA is 8-2. The Pac-12 Championship Game participants have not yet been decided and Saturday’s outcomes in a couple key conference showdowns will help sort that out.

A healthy Jordan Addison could be a major difference-maker.

There’s already been a little trash talk, with UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson making a claim that the Bruins want to “break 60” on the scoreboard again.

Addison responded in kind.

“I didn’t see any of that but, who wouldn’t want to put 60 up on us?” said Addison. “I mean we are USC. But they are going to have to stand behind that. He’s going to have to stand on those words.”

UCLA and USC will meet at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday with a national broadcast on FOX.