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ROSE BOWL GAME: USC VS PENN STATE

December 29, 2016

Uchenna Nwosu

Pasadena, California

Q. I just wanted to ask you about the events you guys have gotten to do for the Rose Bowl so far, Disneyland and the Improv event last night. What's been fun and how nice is it to have such fun in local events?
UCHENNA NWOSU: You know, the people, the committee of the Rose Bowl, they've treated us so nice, so it's a pleasure to be here. All the events and everything we've had so far has been amazing. The Improv last night was amazing. Everybody loved it. I haven't been to Disneyland in years, so it was cool to see that again, be around that environment.

Q. What have you seen from Penn State so far on tape?
UCHENNA NWOSU: They play hard. They're a very physical, hard team. They like to play to the finish. They have some good players, excited to play against them, can't wait to play against them. Exciting team.

Q. And in this kind of break where you haven't had a game in however long, how have you guys been able to keep your momentum up and keep the excitement up?
UCHENNA NWOSU: Coach Clancy continues to preach, stay on top of your game, always go in, study, don't fall asleep. We've had some time off, just keep getting to your playbook, keep studying, keep studying, and just keep staying together as a team.

Q. Did you find yourself studying over the holidays?
UCHENNA NWOSU: Of course, of course. This is a business trip for all of us. We're all excited to be here. We all have one goal.

Q. How has your defense changed as the season has gone on?
UCHENNA NWOSU: You know, we're starting to establish an identity. We built a culture together as a team. At first I guess we kind of hadn't gotten used to each other at first, but now we've kind of seen everybody, came together, understand who we are now, and being able to build that chemistry is what really helped our defense and offense.

Q. You were more three down at the start of the season, more two now and more guys standing up. How did that come about, and has he talked to you about why he made some changes?
UCHENNA NWOSU: He felt those were the best changes so I guess that's why he made it. I thought whatever changes he made would improve our defense, and overall I see it improving our defense, whatever changes the coaches make.

Q. How did your assignments change?
UCHENNA NWOSU: From last year?

Q. No, just from the beginning of this season as he kind of tweaked the defense.
UCHENNA NWOSU: My position specifically hasn't really changed. Stand up on the edge. Hasn't really changed for me specifically.

Q. They listed you as a defensive end at the start of the season, and now they're listing you as an outside linebacker, but nothing really changed as far as you were concerned?
UCHENNA NWOSU: Yeah, nothing really changed, just being able to be on the field and play and help the team, contribute to the team wins is really all I really care about.

Q. What do they ask you to do primarily in games?
UCHENNA NWOSU: Just do my job, just whatever that may be, to holding the edge, getting to the quarterback, whatever it may be, just do my job.

Q. What's the most fun for you in a game, for yourself?
UCHENNA NWOSU: Probably seeing my other brothers excited. When I see them make plays, I see them jumping around, being happy, smiling, that's probably the best thing for me.

Q. What was the best part of this season, or is it still ahead?
UCHENNA NWOSU: Yeah, it's still ahead. It's still a lot more to come. But the best part of the season I have to say is -- it's unwritten yet. Still a lot of things to get done, still a lot of things to continue to build on.

Q. How have you grown as first a football player and then as a person in your years at SC?
UCHENNA NWOSU: You know, I was young. I got into some little altercations and stuff like that when I was young, and when I was younger my freshman year, had to go to a JuCo for a year, so that really made me grow up and become more of a man. I was still young, a freshman in college, everybody wants to do whatever, whatever, and that really woke my eyes up, and from there on, I think I've carried myself on to be a true man and a true leader, and I hope to continue that into next year.

Q. Where did you go to junior college?
UCHENNA NWOSU: I went to El Camino College in Torrance. I was there for one semester, came back and now I'm here.

Q. Was that grades or something else?
UCHENNA NWOSU: I'm not really wanting to talk about it. Yeah, sorry.

Q. Give us your thoughts on being able to be part of a Rose Bowl experience?
UCHENNA NWOSU: I mean, it's something you dream of growing up as a kid, looking up to USC. I'm from Los Angeles, right around the corner, every kid wants to be a Trojan, be a part of the Rose Bowl, and to actually be here after all the sanctions and the coaching changes is pretty big, and I'm really excited to be here.

Q. What are your thoughts on trying to disrupt and make McSorley uncomfortable in the pocket?
UCHENNA NWOSU: I don't know, just getting to him. He's a great player, he's a great athlete, so we've just got to disrupt him. I don't know how to really put it. But just disrupt him, you know. Sorry.

Q. Coach Helton said that you guys have really embraced the 1-3 start because of the way you see where you come from. What are some of the lessons you guys learned from that rough start?
UCHENNA NWOSU: We just have to be comfortable being uncomfortable. That's one thing he always said. We started off 1-3 but we didn't let that get to us. We came together as a team, came together as a unit and told ourselves this is what we need to get done, this is what we need to focus on, this is what we do. We believe in our coaches, we believe in our coaching staff, we believed in everybody who believed in us, and that's ultimately contributed to our overall change.

Q. Talk a little bit about coming into this game. Obviously you guys have had a pretty special season. Just talk about overall your year experience the last couple days.
UCHENNA NWOSU: The last couple days here for the Rose Bowl or --

Q. Leading up to the Rose Bowl and getting ready to play in it.
UCHENNA NWOSU: The committee is taking care of us. They've got us all these cool places to visit. I haven't been to Disneyland in a while, so being back was pretty cool. The Improv comedy last night was amazing. Everybody had fun. All of the performances were great. So we just really had fun, but we're not using this as a time to really relax. We have one goal and that's to win the Rose Bowl and that's what we're here to do. It's a business trip for us.

Q. What are some things that stand out about Penn State when you watch them on film?
UCHENNA NWOSU: They play hard. They're a great football team. They have great athletes. We can't wait to play them, get their best effort, and just ultimately just ready to play.

Q. Are you looking forward to tonight, the Beef Bowl?
UCHENNA NWOSU: Oh, I don't even know what that is to be exact, but it sounds like a lot of meat, and I love meat, so yeah.

Q. Lawry's is a very nice restaurant on La Cienega. I was talking to Zach Banner yesterday, and I thought obviously the quarterback change had a major impact, but I told him I think that Wheeler getting healthy and Falah figuring out that he could play and how to use him might have had more to do with the improvement of the team than anything else. Banner just was like, you're right. I'm not going to quote him because it sounds like he's putting down the QB, which he wasn't.
UCHENNA NWOSU: Not at all.

Q. He said, that's why we don't care about the first couple of games, because he knows if you played those games over again, not to say you'd beat Alabama but maybe you would, but you'd win the other games. I said, Brown is still the quarterback. He just laughed and said, yeah. Not putting Sam down anyway because he's pretty special --
UCHENNA NWOSU: Both great dudes.

Q. You play against the offensive line all the time in practice, so am I right about they're so much better now than they were the first month of the season because of those two guys?
UCHENNA NWOSU: Yeah, because of -- I think as I said before, we're still trying to establish ourselves. Guys are playing who are not used to playing. When they get comfortable, it benefits us, the whole team as a whole, and Chad, with him, he's a big factor for the O-line and Nico being able to step in, next-man-up mentality, did a great job for us the whole year, and I just feel like it's lifted the team.

Q. You don't go against Nico in practice, but they're using him differently. He can move more than the other guys, which changes everything the offensive line does.
UCHENNA NWOSU: Nico is a great athlete. I think he played, I want to say guard. Moved from guard to center. He's very athletic, so having him at the center position and being able to move and all the versatile stuff he's able to do is a big plus.

Q. Even though you're on the outside, how much does a center who can get outside affect what goes on in a game?
UCHENNA NWOSU: You're talking about in center pulls and stuff like that?

Q. Yeah.
UCHENNA NWOSU: If a team has a center that can just -- very athletic and get out and get out on the edge and create a lot of problems, that's a good team. That's a good center. Having a center like that is like probably a good boost for the team.

Q. Have you been dumped by a center during games where you go, where did that guy come from?
UCHENNA NWOSU: No, I've never been dumped by a center, ever, all season. I don't think we've ever played a center that can really move as good as Nico. I don't recall. Maybe we have, maybe we haven't.

Q. There aren't too many who can play that way, and it's kind of a relatively new concept.
UCHENNA NWOSU: Uh-huh, yeah.

Q. Did you play against Green in high school?
UCHENNA NWOSU: Jalen Greene?

Q. Rasheem.
UCHENNA NWOSU: I played him in high school, yeah. I played him in high school.

Q. What's it like playing with guys who you played against in a couple of pretty wild games?
UCHENNA NWOSU: I mean, it's like we're brothers. We played each other all throughout high school, all throughout our high school careers, some even Pop Warner. It's just like playing against your brothers, so it feels good. Now that they're on your team, it's more exciting.

Q. How about Adoree' who gets an awful lot of attention just because of his personality, obviously plus this game. What's he like, and do you guys laugh at some of the stuff?
UCHENNA NWOSU: Oh, yeah, in high school he torched us pretty bad in high school. I remember a couple of plays where he hurdled some dudes, 103-yard pick six. He just does amazing things. We look back on it now like that was an unfair call that you had but they'll give it to you because he's a great player and he deserves all that type of stuff.

Q. When you played against him back then, did you get any hits on him?
UCHENNA NWOSU: Maybe I got like a tackle on him and stuff like that, and we also played on the same team in our -- I think it was like a Senior Bowl or something like that, the West Coast Bowl. He did some crazy things in there, too, so just being with him and being around him, it's a lot of fun playing with him.

Q. Do you think playing against Sam in practice maybe helps you going up against Trace McSorley?
UCHENNA NWOSU: I can kind of see it. They're both good athletes. They both like to run. They can both turn nothing into something. Playing against somebody like Sam helps you prepare for a lot of mobile quarterbacks, so that's a plus having him in practice and stuff like that.

Q. They're notorious for being a second-half team. How do you keep that wave from coming?
UCHENNA NWOSU: We've just got to keep level headed, keep listening to Coach, keep trusting our defense, keep trusting him, keep trusting our calls, and we won't fold. If we keep believing, then we'll be strong.

Q. The confidence you guys are playing with as a unit down the stretch, how does that help you, because this is obviously going to be your biggest challenge I would think defensively.
UCHENNA NWOSU: Confidence, yeah, we just have to keep this confidence. We have to keep believing, keep believing. As I said before, if we let our confidence go down, we might slip up, and we don't want that to happen, so we keep our confidence up, keep believing, keep practicing, we'll be victorious.

Q. These two teams are connected by so many things. Can you talk a little bit about that and how meaningful it is to have both teams in the game given what they've been through?
UCHENNA NWOSU: Yeah, both teams have had to fight through so much. We feel like we've been just -- we've taken so many hits and we continue to -- we shrugged that off and continued to fight and not give up. Both of these teams being here and the last time we played in the Rose Bowl was against each other, it's very historical and means a lot to both of us.

Q. Clancy was saying because of all the downtime you guys were able to take some time and evaluate yourselves. What did you learn from that time period?
UCHENNA NWOSU: We just learned how much we have to improve and how much we have to be patient, read our keys, just take time and just go over some things that we wouldn't normally go over that we think we did wrong and use that to our advantage to help us come out victorious.

Q. What do you think is your strongest asset in that type of way?
UCHENNA NWOSU: My strongest -- I like to be very physical. I like to think of myself as a very physical player. I like to get after guys. I don't like to give up, I like to scratch, I like to claw, I like to fight, so just being a very physical player, I think that's my best asset to the game.

Q. How has this experience been for you so far? Are you even able to soak it in?
UCHENNA NWOSU: Some of these places I've never been. I haven't been to Disneyland for a long time, so being back is pretty cool. Being able to go on all those rides, it brings back a lot of childhood memories. The Improv comedy last night show was amazing. All the acts were great. All the boys had a wonderful time. So just being around here, and my birthday was yesterday, too, so having all this fun around the team, being with the guys, it's pretty cool.

Q. If you had to pick one of the guys that could have contended at the Improv club, who would it be?
UCHENNA NWOSU: Who is a funny dude on the team? That's a hard question. There's a lot of the younger dudes that are funny like Jamel Cook, Velus Jones, Keyshawn Young, C.J. Pollard, Deion Hart. Those dudes are pretty funny, so yeah, I like having them there.

Q. Growing up in the South Bay, how big is the Rose Bowl? How much of those memories are pumping you up for the game?
UCHENNA NWOSU: Yeah, it means a lot. Growing up, my parents weren't really too big on football. They came from Nigeria, so they were really big on soccer. But I've always kept in touch with football and basketball, and being able to grow up in the South Bay, all you hear is USC and UCLA and being able to be in the Rose Bowl and being able to play for USC is just phenomenal.

Q. You guys are going to be down a linebacker; how do you handle that?
UCHENNA NWOSU: For Penn State?

Q. They lost a couple players and you lost Olajuwon. How do you compensate for that and who's in the rotation?
UCHENNA NWOSU: We just have to believe -- he's always with us, so knowing we have our brother on our back, even though he's not here physically, we still carry him with us and we still believe in him, and he believes in us, and knows we'll do good.

Q. Who moves into the rotation for him do you think?
UCHENNA NWOSU: I'm not sure. That's a question for Clancy Pendergast. I'm not sure. We do have some players that are ready to step up.

Q. That's what he was saying. I guess Connor and Oluwole might be there, the candidates.
UCHENNA NWOSU: Yes, they've been preparing. Coach Nansen has them right. They're ready to step up whenever the time is needed, and we're not worried about the downfall because we know they're prepared and worked hard.

Q. I just have to know, how much do you enjoy this whole buildup before a game and all the activities you guys have? Are you ready to get out there and play ball?
UCHENNA NWOSU: Yeah, I'm ready to play ball. It's been a while since we've been away from the game. I'm scratching myself trying to get back on the field, but having this downtime, it's pretty nice, just being able to relax and enjoy something this big as this and not just be thinking about, oh, this Rose Bowl, having time to relax and think about something else for a while, it's pretty good, and my birthday was yesterday. So it's pretty -- it's pretty fun to be here just ready to get back on the field.

Q. How did you celebrate your birthday?
UCHENNA NWOSU: I was with the team all day yesterday. We went to the Improv comedy yesterday. All the shows were great, all the acts were great. All the boys had time, so it was a good time.

Q. What was your favorite ride at Disneyland?
UCHENNA NWOSU: Actually I haven't went to Disneyland since I was a kid, so it brought back a lot of memories, but my favorite ride, probably the Tower of Terror. That was pretty cool.

Q. You guys got to go on that?
UCHENNA NWOSU: Yeah.

Q. It's closing in a few weeks. Did you know that?
UCHENNA NWOSU: I didn't know that. Why?

Q. They're changing it, so you were one of the last people to go on Tower of Terror. What a lucky guy.
UCHENNA NWOSU: What an honor.

Q. What do you know about the Beef Bowl?
UCHENNA NWOSU: I don't know anything about the Beef Bowl. All I heard was rumors was two players from each team competing, whoever eats the most. But from what the coaches have told me, there's only going to be us there, so I don't know how that's going to work out. Maybe it'll just be a nice dinner for us, but who knows.

Q. Penn State had their dinner last night. I was there. You guys are going to love it. Are you going to eat less going into this big meal?
UCHENNA NWOSU: Most definitely. I've learned that we have to eat less, because the place that we have been going to have been giving us a lot of full and I haven't been able to eat because I've been so full. I'm going to use the strategy eat less, go in hungry, come out feeling good.

Q. How nice is it that you guys have a 30-minute ride to Pasadena rather than having to fly somewhere across the country, sleep in hotel beds in a totally unknown place?
UCHENNA NWOSU: It feels good being able to play in our own backyard. Having the luxury of being in LA, a great city and being able to play in the Rose Bowl is something special, and being able to stay in our own comfort zone and be used to everything we're already used to, I feel like that's a big plus we have on our side.

Q. Was the Rose Bowl growing up something you would watch or knew a lot about and wanted to play in?
UCHENNA NWOSU: I watched when I was younger. The last time USC played was against Penn State, so that's crazy if you really think about it. Both these teams been through sanctions. We battled a lot, so being able to compete against a team like this is very historical.

Q. You guys especially starting 1-3 and going through that really dark September, what does it say about this team that you were able to dig out of that and win nine straight?
UCHENNA NWOSU: You know, we all believe in each other, we believe in our coaching staff. We just believe in each other. We're all brothers. We're all family. We preach it every day. We tell each other every day, we stick together every day. We went 1-3, we knew we had to come together. We knew we had to believe. We knew that was a time not to separate but a time to get closer, and dark times bring you closer together, so after we went 1-3, we believed and we came together and we fought.

Q. How is that different compared to other teams you may have played for in the past?
UCHENNA NWOSU: I mean, I don't really have an answer to that question.

Q. Just a unique group of guys that you guys have here?
UCHENNA NWOSU: Just a unique, great group of guys, yeah.

Q. When Stevie showed up on campus, what were some of your expectations about this guy?
UCHENNA NWOSU: When Stevie showed up, we was like at a position that we actually kind of needed some help. We went down a couple guys. We had a lot of younger guys, a lot of freshmen and stuff like that, so when Stevie came in, he gave us a sense of hope, you know, some extra boost, so we felt good when Stevie came on campus.

Q. What's it like playing with a guy who's married, been on a Mormon mission, clearly older than everybody else on the team and a different type of maturity?
UCHENNA NWOSU: Exactly, he brings that sense of maturity to the team. I guess you can say he's like a father to the team so he knows all the -- he's been through a lot, too, with being in Utah knowing how everything goes, been there for a long time, so bringing all this extra knowledge that he has over here to help us, it's really improved our game.

Q. Was there a time when the two of you got together or kind of leaned on him for some advice as your defense was growing and evolving?
UCHENNA NWOSU: Yeah, Stevie always knows -- he studies football a lot -- everybody studies football but he always knows when certain things are coming just from the way linemen are looking and all this type of stuff, so Stevie is like a go to guy when you need information and stuff like that.

Q. How about the progression of this defense? It seems talking to guys the first couple weeks is understanding the nuts and bolts of the schemes, now it's cut it loose and let it go. Is that accurate and how do you think you've grown within that?
UCHENNA NWOSU: Can you repeat the question, please?

Q. Your first couple weeks seemed as though you were getting your feet underneath you from a defensive scheme standpoint. Then all of a sudden you cut it loose and now this defense has been on fire the last eight weeks or so. How have you grown within that growth of the defense?
UCHENNA NWOSU: Just my brothers just continuing to lift me up. Playing for everybody else, playing for one another. We started off dark, started off slow, but as I said before, it's not a time to separate. Just playing hard. We've continued to stick together, and that's ultimately contributed to our success.

Q. When you look at Penn State and what they've done, specifically late in games, what have you noticed on film about them?
UCHENNA NWOSU: They're just a great team. They play hard. They have great athletes, and we just can't wait to play against them.

Q. When you decided to come here, were you visualizing Rose Bowl?
UCHENNA NWOSU: I mean, for all -- through all the sanctions and with all the coaching changes we have, nobody thought it was possible. At one point I thought -- I didn't think it was possible to get back to a Rose Bowl. They said we have the toughest schedule in football, so you know all those things playing a factor, nobody really believed in us. But as it continued to go on, we're a strong team, we made the changes we need to and we continued to fight, and I never would have seen this coming. But we're here.

Q. Have you ever been to a Rose Bowl?
UCHENNA NWOSU: Never.

Q. Have you laid in bed visualizing what it's going to be like?
UCHENNA NWOSU: Like I say, yeah. While I'm in this hotel I've been visualizing what the Rose Bowl is going to look like, what the crowd is going to look like, the atmosphere, what's going to happen, just the weather, everything that just plays a factor, just dreaming, what is it going to be like. Hopefully I'm right.

Q. And what's the visualization for you? What type of game do you see yourself playing?
UCHENNA NWOSU: The biggest game of myself, biggest game, crowd, sold-out crowd, white, Penn State, you know their fans are coming, so you know it's going to be a great game. People have been counting on USC to bring this home. People have been counting on USC, saying USC, bring it back, bring it back, and we only have one goal now, and that's just to win.

Q. Is that added pressure? How do you deal with the bring it back, get SC back?
UCHENNA NWOSU: We kind of drown out all the noise and just focus on us. It's all about us and keep doing our job and we'll be victorious. All the outside noise, just kind of drawn it out and don't really pay attention to it as much. We know it in the back of our heads.

Q. Saquon Barkley, outside of being a great back, what have you noticed about him when he's healthy?
UCHENNA NWOSU: He plays tough, man. Watching film on him, he runs hard. He never gives up. I can see him playing in the NFL. He's a great back, and I can't wait to play him.

Q. How do you guys have the pressure to enjoy the moment when you go to the Rose Bowl but then also kind of make it white noise and have it drown out at the same time?
UCHENNA NWOSU: I mean, just -- to us it's just another game, being able to continue to play when half of the country is done putting on pads, people are done -- some seniors are done putting on pads for the rest of their lives, and being able to be with this group of guys and just continue to play, it's really an honor, and I just can't wait to play.

Q. Is there a way you can still kind of take it all in and realize the moment that you're in but still be able to do that?
UCHENNA NWOSU: Oh, yeah, just with this Rose Bowl committee put together a great deal for us, so just being able to soak up all the fun times with my brothers and being able to be around everybody, seeing everybody happy, seeing everybody come together right before we play the biggest games of our lives is a way to soak this all up, yeah.

Q. What kind of changes for you with Olajuwon being out? Did you have to prepare anybody else?
UCHENNA NWOSU: Yeah, we have guys ready to step up. We have Oluwole Betiku, Connor Murphy. Those guys have played their butts off, but that's ultimately a position for Coach Clancy and Coach Nansen to decide who plays, but we have guys ready to step up and guys who have prepared for this game, yes.

Q. Do you remember your first impression of Stevie when he first got here?
UCHENNA NWOSU: I was like, man, I was happy to see him because we were kind of thin at the D-line, so being able to see him bring some extra boost to us was pretty good, actually.

Q. What about your first impression of his personality?
UCHENNA NWOSU: He was a chill dude, relaxed dude. I knew he was always a cool dude. I grew up around a lot of Samoans, too. Samoans are pretty cool, so being able to see Stevie, I knew he was a cool dude.

Q. Do people, because he's older and do more things, married, people go to him for advice on things?
UCHENNA NWOSU: Yeah, people look to Stevie, he's like a cool, level head. He always tells people how to handle things, how to handle situations. Seems like, kind of like I say, a team father I guess I could put it. He's a very cool dude, very relaxed, very chill, always helpful.

Q. What changes for Penn State from the first half to the second? Is there something tangible?
UCHENNA NWOSU: They're definitely a second-half team. They've been outscoring their opponent by like I think 100 points or something in the second half. I'm not entirely sure. But they play hard, they play great. It's just like, I don't know how to put it, but they just play hard and they're really a second-half team. Being able to know that and going into the game, we know we have to play hard throughout all four quarters of the game and just be prepared to play?

Q. They're a pretty explosive team, as well. Have you noticed their speed on film much?
UCHENNA NWOSU: What do you mean?

Q. They're able to break off big plays, throwing the ball downfield and breaking off big runs.
UCHENNA NWOSU: Yeah, after watching them on film, we see that's how they like to beat teams is just make big plays happen, so we have to stay consistent, read our keys, play defense all the way through the whistle and we'll be victorious.

Q. The reputation of all the Big Ten teams that come out here is they're slow, physical, but they have a lot of speed at the skill positions on the outside, too.
UCHENNA NWOSU: They kind of remind us a little bit of Oregon last year. They're kind of a spread team, a mobile quarterback who can make big plays out of nothing, deep ball, so it's another Pac-12 team to us. We're used to playing teams like this, speed, up tempo.

Q. Have you watched the Wisconsin game, and did you recognize stuff that Justin Wilcox was doing in that game against them?
UCHENNA NWOSU: I didn't even get to watch the Wisconsin game. I didn't get a chance to watch the Wisconsin game.

Q. When you're watching film of them, do you watch stuff from September when they were struggling or do you watch --
UCHENNA NWOSU: We watch everything, everything, from the beginning who they are, from the end of training camp, we know all the tricks, and we're watching everything that they do.

Q. What do you remember about watching SC in the Rose Bowl under Pete Carroll?
UCHENNA NWOSU: Man, just how well they played, man. They had so many great athletes on that team and just they all -- I don't know how to put it, but they just played amazing. We want to replicate that and replicate how they played and just be a great team like them.

Q. What was the draw of SC for you?
UCHENNA NWOSU: What do you mean?

Q. Going to SC. Why SC? You had your pick of a lot of schools.
UCHENNA NWOSU: To be honest, SC was really my best offer. I wasn't really too big a recruit out of high school. I had maybe six offers. Probably SC and UW were my best offers. SC is in my backyard. My mom didn't want me to leave. My sister goes to UCLA, so SC kind of fit in kind of, and it's a big school, great connections, great alumni.

Q. Did UCLA offer you?
UCHENNA NWOSU: No.

Q. Do you tease your sister about that?
UCHENNA NWOSU: I mean, she knows. She knows I'm the favorite in the family (laughing). We're rivals, but every time SC is playing, she's always going for us. If we're playing UCLA she's always going for SC because she loves me, she's my sister.

Q. Can you spell her first name?
UCHENNA NWOSU: C-h-i-a-m-a-k-a.

Q. What was the change in coordinators, and how did that impact you from the standpoint of Clancy said that he changed what you were being asked to do totally, and when players are taken out of their comfort zone, their first reaction is what's this all about. How did you react to the change, and how do you think about it now?
UCHENNA NWOSU: To be honest, I was a little struck at first like I wanted to play my position inside. But how I reacted is just thinking to myself, anyway you can be on the field is good for you, no matter what happens, get on the field, make plays, and it'll pay off in the end. Whatever decision, as long as I'm on the field making plays, I'm happy. As long as I'm on the field, I'm happy.

Q. Are you still an inside guy at heart?
UCHENNA NWOSU: Always will be an inside guy at heart. Even though in high school I played receiver and safety, then moved to linebacker, now I'm an outside linebacker, so being able to play all these positions, I feel like it's a good thing for me.

Q. What do you weigh?
UCHENNA NWOSU: I weigh right now about 237, 240.

Q. So you could play inside at the next level, but you're probably better off on the outside weight wise?
UCHENNA NWOSU: Weight can always vary, I can gain, I can lose, depending on what I see myself as. We'll just have to wait and see.

Q. What are the challenges of facing Saquon Barkley?
UCHENNA NWOSU: He's a very physical running back. He plays hard. He plays through the whistle. He just is a great runner. He's for sure an NFL running back for sure. I just can't wait to play against him.

Q. Does he remind you of any running backs that you've faced?
UCHENNA NWOSU: Devonta Freeman. I think he's an NFL running back right now. He's a great runner, hard, just kind of reminds me of him how he played hard.

Q. When you look at film of the opposing team, what do you look at? What are you personally looking for?
UCHENNA NWOSU: I mean, for my position, personally I pay attention to the line, O-linemen. I pay attention to whatever they do is really what I pay attention to.

Q. Which linemen in particular are you looking at?
UCHENNA NWOSU: All of them, particularly the outside tackles because that's what I'm lined up against most of the time. That's who I really -- I guess I could say, I put my game towards.

Q. What sort of things are you looking for from them?
UCHENNA NWOSU: I don't want to give it away what I'm looking for. That's what I pay attention to is the O-line.

Q. Who do you go against at practice, Wheeler, Banner?
UCHENNA NWOSU: During spring ball we usually go against each other, but now that the season is continuing we have the service team who gives us a great look, so it's really not much Wheeler and Banner.

Q. What was it like in spring when you had to go against those two guys?
UCHENNA NWOSU: Man, those are NFL first-round tackles, so being able to go against them and being able to continue to get better and progress against them is going to ultimately help my game. Shout-out to them because they're helping me get better.

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