Cal Head Coach Sonny Dykes

On the last three games:
“I think we are all frustrated. We should be playing better, and there's no question about it, we've got to get it figured out and play better. There's no doubt about that.”

On the defensive performance:
“I thought we played good defensively. They scored an offensive touchdown and we let them get out on a couple of screens, but USC has got some good players. I think that our defense played very hard, and I thought we played good enough defense to win without a doubt.”

On the run game:
“I thought we ran it well early in the game. We needed to run the ball in order to give our quarterback enough time and be able to protect to throw the football. I thought we ran it ok, not as well as we needed to.”

Reflecting on the season:
“Winning and losing has a lot to do with who you play. Our schedule has been back-loaded the past two years. We have played really good people this year, and we are trying to get to the point to where we can beat those really good people. Good teams are just harder to beat.”

“I felt like we have played good enough to win at least two games. We certainly have played well against teams that have been in the top-10 at least once this season. We have to win and that's the next step for us.”

Cal Players

Jared Goff, QB

On if they let an opportunity get away:
“Yeah, I think every time we lose we let an opportunity slip away. I think that's the same for every team. Today was a great chance to win. Offense played really well, defense played really, but USC played really well and deserved to win.”

On how much of an improved effort this week was from last:
“There was much improvement. There's a lot more fire. Last week there was a little bit of a lull where as today there was a lot more fire out of us on offense and defense. I thought we played pretty well. There was a lot more fire and a lot more energy.”

Daniel Lasco, RB

On what it felt like to be out there on the field healthy:
“It feels good to be back and be able to attribute on offense. I still don't feel like I'm there yet. There were times when I had one person to beat and I didn't get the job done. I just got to go back to the lab and continue to work hard because we have four games left and we got to take over. This is the end of the season and we have to grind through it.”

Bryce Treggs, WR

On his father being inducted to the Cal Athletics Hall of Fame at halftime and scoring the TD:
“It was a great honor. We actually called the touchdown play when he was still on the field, and I knew we were going to score because we've always scored on that play the two times we've ran it. So it was a great honor for our family. I just really wish we could have won a game because that's all that matters in the end.”

On the first interception by Goff:
“We tried to get a quick throw between the corner and the safety, and we had an opening, but his arm got hit so the ball kind of sputtered out and went right into Adore Jackson's hands.

Hardy Nickerson, LB

On third-and-one play in the fourth quarter:
“We had great penetration from our d-line. We made him bounce back, but I tripped trying to make the play and I just dove and missed. But, you know, those are the type of plays you got to make when the game is on the line. So, we just got to move forward and go back to work.”

USC Head Coach Clay Helton

General Comments:
“What a great crowd and atmosphere that was. I cannot say enough about our defensive side of the ball in this game. We have a formula right now to run the ball, stop the run and don't turn the ball over. If you look at the stats, to get 185 tough rushing yards, especially there at the end with really “grown-man” runs by No. 23 (Tre Madden) and No. 22 (Justin Davis), and then defensively the three turnovers and one pick-six with another huge play by No. 2 (Adoree' Jackson), it was a tremendous team effort. We're playing very consistent football right now. We'll work to make sure that continues. We're 2-0 in the second half of the season and we want to continue that.”

On Cody Kessler's play:
“To go 18-of-22 in that type of ballgame with that type of efficiency in a tough ballgame, I'm extremely proud of a senior that played extremely poised, especially down the stretch. He kept me calm. He did a tremendous job.”

On JuJu Smith-Schuster:
“We have the injury bug right now. We have to keep trying to get healthy. JuJu (Smith-Schuster) has a fracture in his hand that he was able to cast up to play with a little bit. In the second half, he had some pain to the point we had to decide to pull him, but he made a big catch on that opening drive. He's had a fracture in that hand before.”

 On the running game in the second half:
“A huge part is the trust you have in your runners and your offensive line. It really started in the opening series in the second half on a 4th-and-2 down on the goal line. We gave them the opportunity to say, 'Guys, this is Trojan football. When it's time to run the ball, we have to take care of our opponent.' A 4th-and-2 touchdown and two huge runs by Tre (Madden) and Justin (Davis) at the end gave our guys a confidence about them that said 'Hey coach, gives us an opportunity and we'll make it happen.' There's no way I was going to deny them. I'll always trust our players to get it done.”

On if he feels more comfortable in the head coach role:
“I still wasn't perfect today. There are still some things I have to get corrected, but thank goodness for a bunch of great players and a great staff. They hide a lot of the things I may mess up on, but yes, I am getting more comfortable.”

USC Players

Adoree' Jackson, CB

On his first career interception:
“It felt good. Since this was my first one, I figured I might as well try to score. I had great blocking by the defense.”

On what he saw on his interception return for a touchdown:
“I saw their o-line and quarterback moving to the right side, and I saw Kenny Lawler try to cut me off, so I just cut back side and followed my blockers. After that, I just tried to get into the end zone.”

On whether he was sure he got to the pylon:
“I was positive. I knew I got the pylon. I knew it was a touchdown. That's why I didn't even look at the ref. I was excited.”

Cody Kessler, QB

On grinding the win out:
“We're beat up. We have injuries. Our o-line is going through a lot. I could care less about stats. I really do want to win the game. Whether that's me making one pass on a third down on a drive to keep it going, or having to tuck it and run, or us just running the ball the whole drive – I'm 100 percent OK with that.”

On Tre Madden's pivotal third down run on the final drive of the game:
“It was a great call. We put it on our offensive line that it was a power run. It was either us or them. They did a great job fitting it, but our guys gave Tre a little bit to get the edge, and they kind of hooked in and we got around them. I took off to try to block someone, if he cut back or something happened. This game was won by our offensive line. Our defense did great, but on the offensive side of the ball, our offensive line won this game along with the running backs. I'm so proud of them. They did such a great job.”

On how the win sets the team up moving forward:
“It's great. It's really good momentum. Obviously, we want to get guys healthy this week and get some guys back going into next week's game. But it's a great starting point for the second half of the season. We're 2-0 on the back half, and the Pac-12 has the most crucial games for us. That's a good football team. They put up a lot of points and their defense does a lot of great things. Our guys came out and played really well. Hopefully going into this week we can build off that and continue the momentum.”