Caleb Williams says he’ll play smart but he’s never been a player to hold himself back, so he’s not going to start now.

The Heisman Trophy winner will lead USC into the Cotton Bowl on Monday against Tulane. It’ll come after almost a month of sitting and stewing on a 47-24 loss to Utah in the Pac-12 Championship Game. During that loss, Williams battled through a hamstring injury that clearly and significantly limited his game.

He says he’s feeling good and he expects to play in the game.

“I want to be on the field with my guys,” Williams said Friday after USC practiced at AT&T Stadium. “We’ve been through these past 12 months together and I want to finish it together.”

Williams was asked if he’d hold himself back at all to protect against further injury and quickly rebuked any notion he’d give it less than 100% of his effort.

“I’ll be smart, but hold myself back? I don’t really like to hold myself back in anything,” he said. “So I’ll be smart about it, try not to do anything crazy… maybe. But I’ll get out there and play ball and go off of that.”

Williams produced 4,447 yards of total offense this season, including 4,075 passing yards. It’s the best year by a Trojan quarterback in program history. His 372 rushing yards this season are also the most by a USC QB in the last 70 years since complete records were available. And both his 37 passing touchdowns and his 282 points responsible for were nation-leading marks heading into bowl season.

He and the Trojans take the field against Tulane at 10 a.m. PT (ESPN) on Monday, Jan. 2.