In this edition of the Peristyle Podcast hosts Ryan Abraham and new USCFootball.com senior staff writer Connor Morrissette are in studio LIVE talking about this Trojan football team entering their "mock game week" as they continue preparations for the highly anticipated 2023 college football season. The squad held a scrimmage over the weekend and was back out on the practice field this week, mimicking what they will be doing next week leading up to the week zero opener against San Jose State.The guys start out talking about what they heard and saw from Monday's practice that featured head coach Lincoln Riley, defensive coordinator Alex Grinch and several defensive players addressing the media after the workout.Riley talked about coming off of their weekend scrimmage and some of the injury issues with the team right now, specifically at inside linebacker where Eric Gentry and Shane Lee have both missed practice time, impacting the overall linebacker depth.This is the first time we have heard from Grinch since USC Media Day before camp started and the talked about the need for consistency and coachability from his players. If they are able to play more consistent and continue to be coachable, he feels this will be a much better defensive team in the fourth quarter. Grinch also talked about some of the cross training that is going on between defensive ends and the rush ends on the defense.The preseason AP poll came out on Monday and the Trojans are in the exact same spot (No. 6) as they were when the coaches poll dropped last week.Please review, rate and subscribe to the Peristyle Podcast on Apple Podcasts!Thanks to Trader Joe's for sponsoring the Peristyle Podcast!Make sure you check out USCFootball.com for complete coverage of this USC Trojan football team.  To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices