Lincoln Riley not ruling out Jordan Addison, Eric Gentry, Ralen Goforth

USC is still dealing with some injuries after the bye week, including leading receiver Jordan Addison. However, Lincoln Riley provided a sense of optimism Thursday during a Zoom call with reporters.

Addison, Eric Gentry and Ralen Goforth have all been working their way back from injuries this week, and Riley said the bye week gave them a chance to rest up before the heat of the schedule comes around. As the Trojans get ready to take on Arizona this week, Riley said he’s not ready to rule the trio out just yet.

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“The bye week has certainly been helpful for all those guys,” Riley said. “They’ve [made] really good progress. I think we’re still going to take advantage of the fact that we still have well over two days … until we play. They’ve been limited. They haven’t been full participants. But not anybody that I would want to say a definite no or yes on right now.

“I fully plan on them traveling, being there. Probably something that comes down to the wire in terms of a decision on the three of those guys.”

Riley previously said he thought Addison and Gentry would both be “day-to-day” with their injuries and they didn’t appear to be long-term issues. Considering they’ve been able to practice, that bodes well for a potential return to the lineup.

Caleb Williams says USC has had ‘a certain energy’ since Utah loss

Caleb Williams and USC will be back in action on Saturday following their bye week last weekend. The Trojans lost their last time out when they went on the road and were defeated 43-42 by Utah. Now, Williams and his teammates are looking to bring a new spirit to the rest of their season.

Williams spoke about the team’s spark during his media availability after practice on Wednesday. He said he realized his teammates had a new sense about them from the moment they got into the locker room after their loss in Salt Lake City.

“I wouldn’t even say the last two weeks. I’d say right after the game there was a certain energy about the team when we were in the locker room,” said Williams. “The last two weeks we realized that we lost. We accepted it and can’t do anything about it except for learn from it and work towards our next goal, which is going 1-0 this week.”