Clay Helton gathered his USC Trojans after practice Wednesday, hoping to refocus them immediately for Thursday, when they go over all of their assignments one more time in pursuit of perfection and an attitude that will carry over to the weekend.
His team had been exposed on the road in losses at Stanford and Texas and, after a healing victory at home last week over Washington State, was preparing for another prove-it moment in the desert against the Arizona Wildcats. Helton told them that failure was not an option, that he was tiring of having to explain why the Trojans have been a lesser version of themselves away from the Coliseum.