UCLA links: UCLA tries to keep emotions in check during USC week

UCLA Bruins head coach Jim Mora reaches on the side lines in the second half of a NCAA college football game against the against the against the Arizona State Sun Devils at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017. UCLA Bruins won 44-37. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

Jim Mora knows its rivalry week. If he didn’t, then he was immediately reminded by the large gaggle of reporters in attendance at his weekly Monday press conference.

As UCLA prepares to face No. 11 USC on Saturday, Mora wants to recognize the importance and excitement of the annual rivalry, but doesn’t want the emotions of the day to get the best of the Bruins.

“It’s (about) not getting out of your head when the emotions start to ramp up because it is a rivalry,” Mora sad. “It’s still playing with great emotion but not becoming an emotional wreck when you can’t recover from a good play or a bad play and lose your fundamentals.”

More on UCLA’s early preparations for rivalry week

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