USC players interrupting Nebraska’s pregame midfield huddle led to a brief scuffle

On By Littum

Opposing players often clash at the end of a game or right after it ends, when emotions and adrenaline are running high. But sometimes things get heated during preseason when both teams are on the court warming up, like before Saturday’s Nebraska-USC game.

The Cornhuskers were on the road in Los Angeles on Saturday, and as is tradition under head coach Matt Rhule, they huddled at midfield for a prayer and meeting before the game. Apparently, some USC players took exception to that and appeared to successfully disrupt the meeting.

Seam Lincoln Star Journal noticedsome Trojans stretched and “got involved in the huddle”, leading to a small and brief scuffle that forced members of both teams’ staffs to intervene.

It doesn’t look like any punches were thrown, but there was some shoving and a lot of animated words.

More via Lincoln Star Journal:

Nebraska defensive line coach Terrance Knighton tried to control the situation on one side of the scrimmage while veteran leaders Ben Scott and Isaac Gifford exchanged words with USC’s Elijah Hughes.

A USC official eventually removed Hughes from the clamp with a limited amount of pushing and shoving as Nebraska exited the midfield area.

Good thing this situation didn’t escalate, especially before kickoff. But here are a few other angles of the brief clash between players.