Tackett Curtis reflects on his first college football game with USC

In Saturday’s victory over San Jose State, the USC Trojans had several freshmen see ample playing time. One of those players was a four-star recruit out of the 2023 recruiting class, linebacker Tackett Curtis.

As USC prepared for their Week 1 matchup against the Nevada Wolf Pack, their true freshman linebacker took some time to reflect on his first college game.

“I just I just came in and worked as hard as I could as soon as I got in the spring, doing everything they told me to the best of my ability,” said Curtis. “I wanted to make sure that whenever my number was called, I was prepared, and I was ready to go. So, if they call my number, whenever it is, I’m gonna go out there and play the best I can, help you with the team the best that I can.”

Curtis received quite a few defensive snaps against the Spartans. He finished the game with two total tackles, one solo and one assistant. Overall, Curtis had a very solid performance on the night, given that that was his first-ever collegiate game. But how did he feel about the performance?

“I think it was a good starting point. I made a lot of mistakes. There were some good things. But I felt like it was a good starting point; I gotta start somewhere. Just evaluating how I played on film, (I’m) learning from my mistakes and making sure they don’t happen again.”

Curtis’s mistakes against San Jose State could have been from a multitude of things. The pace of the game is much faster in college compared to high school. Not to mention, some of the venues, like the Colosseum, are massive. And it’s those two things that Curtis highlighted that played a part in the time it took for him to get adjusted to on Saturday.

“It’s a little bit different. I mean, it’s college ball, game atmosphere,” said Curtis. “I want to say the speed more than the atmosphere. Just trying to settle down and just like look at my rules and go back to playing ball.”

Curtis will likely get an opportunity and more playing time against the Wolf Pack on Saturday. And with his first collegiate game out of the way, fans could see more of who he truly is on the field as he adapts to the speed of the college game.