On Saturday night, the USC football team upset No. 2 Ohio State 30-18. With the victory, the Trojans improved to 7-2 on the season and 4-2 in Big Ten play.

Following the game, USC head coach Lincoln Riley spoke to the media. Here are some of the highlights of what he had to say:

On the victory

“A really fun win tonight. Great atmosphere in the Coliseum. I’m super proud of the team. The players, the staff. Everybody stayed together through the week. It was a key to the week, and that’s why it’s a pretty happy locker room right now. So super excited about the win. Proud of the guys, man. Leadership. These two guys [Jayden Maiava and Alex VanSumeren] and some of our others show out was key to the entire week, and just a great mentality across. So, awesome win.”

On the importance of winning this game

“Every win’s important. You get a chance like tonight, we played a really good football team. One of the best programs in America over a long period of time. Those are great opportunities. We had to do a good job of getting past last week and getting ourselves focused on this opportunity that was at hand, and I thought our team did a phenomenal job. I thought the staff did a great job with them. The team response was there all week, and we played. Arguably, we’re the best conference in America. Every week you see it across the country. Every week’s a battle. What you did last week doesn’t matter. What you do next week doesn’t matter. When I say this all the time, sometimes maybe it resonates when you’re not within the walls. But every game is its own season. That’s just what it feels like. And so you have to try to bring it every single week.”

On scoring on the second play of the game

“You grab momentum right away. The crown went nuts. I just think you get those opportunities to go take it right away, and we did. [Trent Mosley is] an electric player. Guys blocked it up awesome and that was huge. Just to set the tone, like you said, for the entire day.”

On the run game improving from last week

“I thought the backs ran harder. That’s a tough front to run the football on. You have to really go to work, and we stayed more patient with it. Having Waymo back, and a little bit healthier than he’s been, I thought that provided a real spark for sure. Now we were just more patient with it. I thought the line stepped up, did some really good things. We were just a tick off the other week, and then I didn’t do a good job staying with it. Both things were better tonight.”

On what USC means to him

“It’s not about me. It’s about these guys. So my emotions are just excitement for these guys to feel like they feel in that locker room right now, and for our staff to feel the way that it feels. I love team sports because I like being a part of teams and being a part of other people. And when they get a chance to have success or celebrate it or feel good about it, that’s all I need.”

On moving forward

“I keep saying, look at all the craziness across the country. The teams that just hang in there, keep going, get better, stay together, are going to be the ones that are there in the end. So that’s the nature of it. You play a schedule like ours, a lot of phenomenal challenges, but a lot of phenomenal opportunities, and so we have to keep rising together. We have to handle the bye week a lot better than we did the previous time, and get ready for the next one.”