Terrell Anderson has already seen enough quality corners to know what tough coverage feels like. Still, when the USC receiver was asked who gave him the most problems, he didn’t point to Clemson’s Aveion Terrell, Cal’s Nohl Williams, Duke’s Chandler Rivers or even Notre Dame’s Leonard Moore.
Instead, Anderson named a former NC State teammate: Brandon Cisse.
“I was a freshman when he was a sophomore. I was working with Brandon a lot,” Anderson recalled. “He was physical at the line of scrimmage.”
That wasn’t the only part of Cisse’s game that stuck with him.
“He was twitchy and fast. Even when you beat him, he could recover faster than you think,” Anderson said.
Anderson, a 6-2 newcomer to USC, opened up about the matchup during his first USC Media Day on Aug. 3 while discussing his time in Raleigh and his adjustment to Lincoln Riley’s program. Cisse had been in the mix at NC State before Anderson arrived as part of the 2024 recruiting class, and the two spent plenty of time going against each other in practice.
Cisse came to Raleigh as a three-star cornerback out of Lakewood High in Sumter, South Carolina. He eventually played 22 games at NC State, picking off one pass while teams often avoided throwing his way. During Anderson’s true freshman season in 2024, Cisse broke up five passes.
From there, Cisse tested the portal and stayed in the Carolinas by landing at South Carolina. He added another interception there, matched his career high with five pass breakups and did it against SEC competition. That production helped fuel second-round draft talk, including from NFL Network draft analyst Lance Zierlein, before the Green Bay Packers took him with the 20th pick of day two, 52nd overall.
For Anderson, those daily battles clearly left a mark. He sees them as the kind of reps that sharpen a receiver before bigger stages arrive.
USC’s schedule will keep asking for that kind of edge in 2026, with Oregon’s Brandon Finney Jr. set as the first major conference test on Sept. 26 and Penn State’s Zion Tracy another notable challenge on Oct. 10. Anderson, though, said his focus is on the work in front of him, including the USC secondary and transfer Jontez Williams, who he believes will help push him.
“They're going to push you to be better, and they'll help me thrive,” Anderson said.
Anderson arrives at USC with 53 career receptions, 787 yards and six touchdowns.
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