Thoughts from Sunday’s practice, through the eyes of USCRipsIt…

– Following a sloppy first-half of Sunday afternoon’s helmets-only practice, Coach Carroll called the team together for an unusual mid-workout meeting. He was tired of seeing his players jump offsides or hold on running plays, so he encouraged them to clean it up for the day’s final 30 plays of full-team action. They listened, as not a single flag was thrown during the practice-concluding period, which became a teachable moment for the Trojans. “We control that stuff,” Carroll told the team following the workout. “All we have to do is play the way we’re capable of playing.”

– For the second straight day, the final 30-play team period came down to the last two snaps, with the defense winning 16-14 on Sunday.

– During a 10-play blitz-focused segment of team period, the defense utterly dominated, recording six sacks and three pressures and allowing just one completion. The effort also turned up the heat between the offense and defense, leading to plenty of trash talk and several big hits during the remainder of the workout.

– Jack Ward, a legendary USC athletic trainer for 40 years, attended practice.