LOS ANGELES -- USC receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster was tired of all the trash talk from Utah cornerback Dominique Hatfield.
"[Hatfield is] probably the kid who talks the most trash in one game. Probably in one series," Smith-Schuster said Saturday night. "I’m like, ‘Dude, I’m not even about that.’ And it got to the point where I was like, ‘OK, I’m about to embarrass you.’"
Smith-Schuster got his chance early in the third quarter when, on a short pass to the left side of the field, Hatfield had the angle to force him to the sideline. Instead of going out of bounds or cutting upfield, Smith-Schuster slowed down, waited for Hatfield to pursue him, then sent the Utah cornerback, a Los Angeles native, airborne with a stiff-arm that will be replayed on YouTube for years.
"What he said to me was, ‘Don’t put me on ESPN. Why are you trying to put me on ESPN?’" Smith-Schuster said of Hatfield. "I’m like, ‘Dude, I’m just doing my job, trying to have fun.’ On the one play and I’m like, ‘OK, I’m just going to give you the stiff-arm and throw you out of bounds and then turn up.’"
Smith-Schuster, the Pac-12's leading receiver, finished with eight catches for 143 yards and a touchdown in USC's 42-24 victory.
Asked what Hatfield's trash talk consisted of, Smith-Schuster wouldn't go into specifics.
"I’m not going to say," he said. "It was pretty bad."
Whatever it was, Hatfield paid for it.