BATON ROUGE – As the LSU football team prepares for its season opener against the University of Southern California in Las Vegas, coach Brian Kelly on Monday outlined his plan for the game and the season.

Sunday’s game was a great showcase for both college football as a whole and for the newly formed Tiger baseball team, which he acknowledged has lost several key playmakers on both sides of the ball, Kelly said.

Temporary injuries will also affect the team before kickoff on Sunday. Wide receiver Chris Hilton and offensive guard Miles Frazier are listed as questionable and likely, respectively. Kelly said Hilton has a bone bruise and the team will adjust accordingly.

Kelly also acknowledged the similarities between the Trojans and the Tigers, who both lost their Heisman Trophy quarterbacks – Jayden Daniels and Caleb Williams – and whose defenses were built around new defensive coordinators.

Kelly’s Tigers have spent the last few weeks preparing for USC’s revamped defense.

LSU also has to contend with the vaunted Lincoln Riley offense, known for its relentless air-raid style of play, Kelly said, crediting the strength of new USC quarterback Miller Moss in last year’s bowl game.

LSU is ranked 12th in the AP Coaches Poll and has rebuilt its defense with two new coaches in the offseason. The team has also seen changes on offense, with Kelly expressing confidence in Garrett Nussmeier to replace Daniels.

In his third year with the team, Kelly said he hopes his team has grown since losses to Florida State in the 2022 and 2023 season openers.

“You have to perform at your best in an opening game,” Kelly said.

He said he felt the young and inexperienced team that played FSU found itself and channeled the battle scars it carried from those opening games into a mature performance on Sunday. He particularly highlighted the accomplishments of Harold Perkins and Will Campbell, both of whom will wear No. 7 in some form, continuing the program’s tradition of homegrown excellence. Campbell will wear a patch with the number since he cannot wear the actual No. 7 on offense.

Off the field, Kelly spoke proudly of the LSU Football Operations Center’s new recovery wing as the “final piece” of a complex that will include amenities like a performance nutrition center. Kelly said teams like the Tigers “can’t perform at their best without all of those things.”

“We hope to build elite habits … in other areas of life,” Kelly said.

The Tigers will face the USC Trojans in Las Vegas on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on WBRZ.