It’s been nearly a month since we last saw USC take the field.

Under first-year head coach Lincoln Riley, the Trojans were within a game of both a Pac-12 championship and a College Football Playoff appearance. A loss to Utah in the league title game sent the Trojans tumbling down to the Cotton Bowl, where they’ll face an upstart Tulane team from the Group of Five ranks.

USC will be without a couple of offensive stars. It fell short of its ultimate goal. But Riley says motivation won’t be lacking.

“We want this game and this week to be reflective of the journey we’ve been on the last 12 months,” Riley told reporters on Tuesday. “That’s been our goal throughout. We’ve had good prep leading up, but we’ll need to have great prep here leading in and be ready to play.”

USC had its first bowl practice at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Wednesday. Riley said they’ll get a good week of prep in and get back into the routine they had before the long layoff.

Though still a young head coach by most coaching standards, Riley has been through this song and dance before. He and his staff that came over from Oklahoma have both taken teams through long layoffs and played in AT&T Stadium.

Kickoff at the Cotton Bowl is set for 10 a.m. PT on ESPN next Monday.