Needed changes from USC bye week

Throughout the entirety of college football, there is arguably not a more important bye week than that of USC. Heading into the Illinois game, the Trojans were building a lot of positive momentum for themselves.

The road game against the Fighting Illini, however, told much of the same story that has been seen in Troy as of late. That does not mean, though, that the progress that has been made should be discarded.

This week needs to ultimately lead to a flip in mentality. It has been seen how good both units can be at their best. Unfortunately, the lows have made it clear that there is plenty of work to do in order for this to be a winning program.

There needs to be a renewed spirit within the USC team of the need to show mental toughness. Although Illinois is a good program, they had not been exactly firing on all cylinders prior to the game against the Trojans.

That is to say that things will get tougher, and the full force of the Big Ten will either force USC to improve in this department or watch the season fall apart once again for the second year in a row.

Needed approach from USC

Some coaches choose to 'burn the tape' following a loss. The Trojans need to take the exact opposite approach.

The latest film has to serve as a teaching point and a different form of motivation. There needs to almost be an anger that comes when revisiting how USC lost in Champaign.

Internally, the players need to draw the line and decide that this 2025 roster is going to be the one that pushes through the latest bad run of close games. Until it happens, the Trojans will likely see the same old story, particularly with some of the upcoming matchups.