Brian Kelly and the LSU Tigers start the game week with a challenging opponent: Lincoln Riley and the USC Trojans.

Kelly and Co. continue to prepare their game for the 23rd ranked college football team, but they face another challenge in Week 1.

The Tigers aren’t afraid to make headlines and face tough opponents in their opening games of the season, and their schedule is in full swing for their first week against the Trojans.

Kelly met with reporters on Monday to talk about the offseason, the challenges of playing against the Trojans and more:

“Season openers are difficult. You train so hard from spring to now and then you have to turn the tables and perform for the first time. You have to play at a high level at the opener.

“I think every coach has that unease in the opening game because they don’t know exactly what to expect when they flip the switch. Because of the experience, we expect a much better performance from this group.”

“I know our football team is very happy with their current situation, but to answer these questions you have to go out and test yourself. Then we will be back here in a week to answer more questions about our current situation.

“I know we’re well prepared defensively. Our guys are excited to play for Blake. There’s not a lot of confusion or mishaps. The guys know what it takes to play LSU football. I’m excited to watch them play.”

“Winning and losing is a fine line and a lot of times it just comes down to the team’s attitude as far as responsibility and leadership. I think we have that. Even though we don’t have the type of playmakers we had last year, we have great leadership. We have guys that have experience.

“We have guys that hold each other accountable and we’re going to play to the end. That’s what this group is about. They have experience, they know what it’s like to win games. This is a team that knows what to do and how to do it.”

“From a tactical point of view, his ability to catch the ball is limited. We definitely want to stress that he cannot kick it directly into the middle of the field. We have two talented kickers who can both influence the game.

“From our perspective, there are some things we can do that will allow both of them to impact the game. That has a lot to do with preventing the ball from being shot down the middle and giving him the opportunity to hit back.”

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