UCLA football puts focus ahead of rivalry with USC

Speaking in front of a large scrum of reporters and cameras Monday morning, the six UCLA players chose their words carefully.

Junior wide receiver Jordan Payton would not refer to Saturday’s adversary by name, instead calling them “our opponent.”

Junior cornerback Ishmael Adams downplayed the significance of the upcoming game, responding to a question about bragging rights with: “sure.”

Redshirt sophomore running back Paul Perkins likened the importance of this week’s game to that of any other Pac-12 matchup.

Such is the nature of UCLA-USC rivalry week.

With the media frenzy already ramping up toward full force, the Bruins weren’t going to say anything to add to it.

After Arizona State’s loss to Oregon State thrusting UCLA back into pole position for the Pac-12 South title, the Bruins seemed to tiptoe around their responses even more so.

Now in control of their own fate, needing two wins to earn a spot in the Pac-12 title game, the importance of this week’s game has been amplified beyond a normal rivalry matchup. Given how UCLA dealt with high expectations and media hype early in the season, the Bruins are making sure to handle the hype better now that a glimmer of College Football Playoff hopes has returned.

“We were just looking at the bigger picture way too early,” Adams said. “We really wanted to have that national championship team, and it overwhelmed us.”

Now refocused and with the blinders back on, the Bruins have no intentions of letting the outside voices get back in the way of their goals.

“Why change what we’ve been doing now that it’s been working,” Adams said.

That starts with limiting their excitement over their newfound Pac-12 South lead. Several players downplayed their interest in Arizona State’s loss; Perkins even said he was asleep during the game and wasn’t initially excited when his mom woke him up to tell him the news.

“At the time not really, I just wanted to go back to sleep,” Perkins said. “But then in the morning I was like, ‘OK, we’re back in business now.’”

Yet even with the players’ happiness that they now control their own destiny, that feeling was quickly replaced with determination. After all, what good is simply needing to win to reach their goals if they squander that with a loss?

So the Bruins are doing everything in their power to control what’s not. Adams said the team is just focused on the game instead of the rivalry. Perkins called it “just another game.” Redshirt junior quarterback Brett Hundley said he’s just worried about playing football.

The Bruins may be saying all they can to try to diminish the appearance that this is a huge game for them Saturday. But even with them blocking out all the exterior noise and inevitable media hoopla, they still understand the significance of each of their final two games.

“Pressure will make diamonds or it can burst pipes, so for us, it’s been making some diamonds these past couple weeks and we’re trying to make another one this week,” Payton said.