Sarkisian prepares to face team he once led
Steve Sarkisian won’t be overcome with emotion when USC plays Washington on Thursday night at the Coliseum.
Sarkisian spent five seasons at Washington, lifting a program that was winless before he arrived to four consecutive bowl games, but then leaving after the 2013 season to coach the Trojans.
On Saturday, Sarkisian and USC began game-week preparations for the Huskies. It will be Sarkisian’s first game against his former school and many of the players he recruited and coached.
“Do I want to play well? Yeah,” he said after practice. “But not because it’s them.”
Sarkisian allowed that he was “excited to see a lot of familiar faces on game day, but once the ball’s kicked off we’re going to play the game and try to win the game.”
Sarkisian indicated that facing the Huskies would not be different from facing any other opponent.
“It doesn’t mean more,” he said. “I think the memories kick up a little bit. ... You start looking at the tape and there’s a bunch of the players that you recruited.
“And they’re playing hard. I’m happy for ’em.”
Washington, under Coach Chris Petersen, is 2-2 overall and 0-1 in the Pac-12 Conference after a 30-24 loss to California.
Petersen does not expect his players to be distracted facing Sarkisian and a staff that includes five former Washington assistants.
“We have a lot of respect for the USC program,” Petersen said, “and I think that’s probably where their focus will be.”
Sarkisian was 34 when he became Washington’s coach. He compiled a 34-29 record. His best season was 2013, when the Huskies finished 8-4.
In 2009, in Sarkisian’s third game, Washington upset third-ranked USC, 16-13, at Husky Stadium, giving Sarkisian a victory over mentor Pete Carroll.
Sarkisian said he took many “learning lessons” from Washington and was thankful for his experience in Seattle.
“I’ve got great memories from the University of Washington,” he said.
“I don’t have any complaints about my time there. I enjoyed it.
“We really felt like we took a program that was at the bottom of our conference and built them the right way.”
Receiver returns
Receiver JuJu SmithSchuster returned to practice after missing the previous two for what Sarkisian had described as “personal reasons.”
Players were not scheduled to be made available to the media Saturday.
“He kind of resolved the personal stuff that he was working on,” Sarkisian said of Smith-Schuster, “so it’s good to have him back.”
USC’s receiver situation is a bit in flux because of a hamstring injury suffered by Darreus Rogers in the Trojans’ victory over Arizona State.
Rogers dressed for practice but was held out of drills.
“He’s going to have to start to show us some stuff here in the next couple days to be realistically able to play,” Sarkisian said.
Isaac Whitney and Jalen Greene could step in for Rogers. Tailback Dominic Davis also has been working at receiver.
Quick hits
Defensive lineman Antwaun Woods, who has been nursing a pectoral injury, and cornerback Kevon Seymour (knee) participated in all drills. ... Defensive lineman Jacob Daniel (hamstring) was held out. ... Offensive lineman Khaliel Rodgers was absent for personal reasons, Sarkisian said…. Defensive line coach Chris Wilson was not at practice because he was returning from a recruiting trip, Sarkisian said.