USC is trying to get ready for the kind of noise that can swallow a visiting team whole, and Jahkeem Stewart says the Trojans are taking no shortcuts. As they prepare for Penn State’s White Out at Beaver Stadium, USC has been leaning hard on crowd noise, even running it in team rooms and around practice to mimic what’s coming.
“It’s going to be a great game. . . . They have a great program right now.
We’ve been playing the sound system every day, especially even in the team rooms, to get used to the sound. Me?
I don’t think we’ll get used the sound because it’s going to be louder than that. But, just trusting our program, our scheme, and everything.
I feel as though we’ll have a great game. They have a great running back corps and a great O-line.
We’re excited to go out there and play together as one.”
Stewart’s comments come after USC’s defense took a noticeable step forward in the win over Washington. The Trojans held the Huskies to 21 points, brought down quarterback Demond Williams five times, and finished with six tackles for loss. Stewart said the unit still has work to do, but the progress is real.
“No, it was great. I feel as though the defense did a great job.
We had a lot to fix, and we still have a lot to fix. We stepped up big time in the game, but we’re slowly getting to where we want to be.
We play connected, and I feel as though we have to play much more connected going into the environment and this weekend.”
For Stewart, that connection starts with the defensive line playing loose and trusting each other. He said the group is still chasing a bigger standard and wants to become one of the best USC has seen.
“Playing free. Especially as a D-line, the big word was play free: play together, play as one.
I feel as though that’s what we did. Slowly.
We’re not where we want to be, especially as a D-line. We want to be one of the best D-lines to come through USC, one of the best D-lines to play.
Our coaches just telling us to go out there and play the game we’ve been playing since we were three, four, five years old, and we did that.”
He also pointed to the work from the edges and the coaching staff, including Coach Nua and Coach Skaggs, as part of that collective push. Stewart said the front has started to build real trust with the players behind them, and that helped the rush get home against Washington.
“Shout-out to our edges, especially Coach Nua, for telling the edges what they need to hear. Coach Skaggs tells us what we need to hear.
We all came together as one. We trusted our edges, and the edges trusted us.
We got to the quarterback a few times. He was small but fast, so it’s very hard to get him.
Shout-out to him; he’s a great quarterback.”
Stewart also said defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn is still shaping the scheme around the talent on hand, and that Lynn is adjusting from what he had at TCU to what he has now at USC.
“He’s slowly getting out of the TCU mindset. With the weapons we have right now.
It’s a big difference between the generations of what coached at TCU and now. Knowing he got playmakers on the defensive front, especially the front seven.
He knows he can blitz people and play zone. It’s little things like that he can trust in, especially our D-line front.”
“He’s slowly getting to the trust with that. It took time, but we’re coming together and he’s getting there.
He’s a great coach. Coach P is a great coach.
He’s a hard worker, and us just feeding off his work, we’re going to do great things.”
The trip to Penn State also comes with Stewart expecting USC to lean on the same kind of togetherness that showed up against Washington. He said the Trojans have been working to make sure communication holds up in a loud building, especially with the environment they’re walking into.
“We have to play for him (Ta’Mere Robinson) and Zechariah Fisher for sure. Tamer is a great guy.
Shout-out to Tamer. He had a big step up, and Zechariah Fisher had a big step up too.
He’s always getting in the backfield. He actually missed a sack.
That’s my dog.”
“I look up to both of them because of where they come from and because they’re older than me. I can always learn from them.
I’m going to play for them, but I’m also going to play for the whole team. It’s more personal to them too.”
Stewart said linebacker Desman Stephens II, known as “8-Ball,” should also give USC another boost.
“It helped a lot. A big shout-out to 8-Ball (Desman Stephens II).
He’s coming back this week. He’s going to be a great addition, especially knowing who he is as a player.
I can’t wait to see him step up and be the person he wants to be. Our linebackers are great.
They trust us, and we have to trust them. That’s all it takes: trusting each other and playing as one.
Once we do that, great things will come.”
Stewart also had a little fun reflecting on life away from football, including a meal that left him plenty full after his family came through on a home-game visit.
“17.2. (miles per hour). I ran a 17.2. But if you really add it up, 17.2 plus 4, yeah, about 22.2.”
“Yea, I had gumbo, cornbread dressing, potato salad, jambalaya, turkey things. I had a lot of food.
My family came down and cooked for me. They come up every home game and cook for me, so I was full.”
“Great, because I don’t party. They always come back and make me feel like home.
They play the music I used to listen to when I was young, so I had flashback moments. We always talk about when I used to be a bad little boy,” Stewart said with a laugh.
“They always tell me I was bad. Nobody wanted to watch me growing up.
They have fun joking about me, but seeing them happy makes me happy. That’s all that matters.”
In Other News...
Penn State White Out Just Got Bigger Than Anyone Wanted
Penn States White Out game has taken on an even sharper edge this week, with No. 19 USC set to come to town Saturday night for a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff. The matchup would already carry plenty of weight under the lights, but the Nittany Lions are also trying to steady themselves after back-to-back losses to Wisconsin and Northwestern, a skid that has only added to the unease around the program.
USC arrives with a 5-1 record and the kind of offensive firepower Lincoln Rileys teams usually bring, even if the Trojans have had their own issues on defense. For Penn State, the stakes are bigger than one ranked opponent on a national stage, because this is the sort of game that can either calm the noise around Matt Campbells tenure or turn the volume up another notch. [Read more 🡒]
Penn State Defense Gets Another White Out Concern Before USC
Penn States defense picked up a mixed update ahead of the White Out matchup with No. 19 USC, with linebacker Alex Tatsch ruled out and defensive tackle Armstrong Nnodim upgraded to probable. Tatschs absence trims an already important layer of depth at linebacker, while Nnodims status offers at least a bit of relief for a defensive line that will need to hold up under the glare and the stakes at Beaver Stadium.
The timing matters because Penn State is heading into one of the loudest, highest-pressure settings of the season, and every available body on defense carries extra weight. Losing one rotation piece and potentially getting another back leaves the Nittany Lions in a familiar midweek spot of managing health, shuffling depth and waiting to see how much help they can count on once the lights come on. [Read more 🡒]
Penn States White Out Puts One USC Advantage Under Pressure
Lincoln Riley and DAnton Lynn are set for an intriguing reunion when USC visits Penn State, with the two coaches now standing on opposite sidelines after spending time together at USC. Lynns arrival on Rileys staff helped stabilize and improve the Trojans defense in 2024, and the respect between the two has carried over even as the matchup has become a far bigger issue for both programs. In a White Out setting, Penn States defensive coordinator knows the USC offense as well as almost anyone does, and that familiarity adds another layer to an already high-stakes Big Ten showdown.
For Penn State, the challenge is balancing what Lynn learned in Los Angeles with the need to keep Riley guessing on a night when the atmosphere should be as imposing as the opponent. Riley, meanwhile, has to navigate a defense led by someone who understands his approach and helped shape USCs recent progress on that side of the ball. It is the kind of chess match that can swing a game in subtle ways, and it gives Penn State another reason to expect this White Out to come down to more than just talent on paper. [Read more 🡒]