USC linebacker Mason Cobb questionable for Utah State

Linebacker Mason Cobb is officially listed as questionable for USC versus Utah State on Saturday night. “Mason’s been limited for us this week hasn’t been a full participant in practice, [he’ll] be questionable with the game just kind of see how see moves around today,” said Riley during his weekly meeting with the press on Thursday.

Riley held out some hope that Cobb would be able to go, saying, “Obviously here we got a little bit of extra time recovery with the later kick, so we’ll see. It’ll be close.”

I’m thinking if it’s questionable, even with an off week between Saturday’s game and the Michigan game in Ann Arbor, there are quality backups who can fill in for Cobb – there is no urgency to rush him back and risk further injury.

USC has a mix of solid veterans and a pair of talented freshmen to rely on for the game if Cobb is out.

“If he’s not able to go, you certainly still have Eric [Gentry] and Easton [Mascarenas-Arnold] obviously. you know that that next group of guys — Desmond Stevens, Raesjon [Davis], [Elijah] Newby, [Garrison] Madden, that group — it would be a combination of all of those guys if Mason’s not able to go. So I’d say I hope he can, but if he can’t it’ll be exciting to see some of those guys get an opportunity,” Riley added.

In anticipation of the critical Big Ten matchup against Michigan in just over two weeks, there’s a strong likelihood we’ll witness a considerable portion of the depth chart on the field against Utah State. It might present a suitable opportunity to rest Cobb, ensuring he’s as close to full strength as possible for the highly anticipated conference game against the Wolverines.

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