Reggie Bush talks Caleb Williams, USC, and says this SEC team has the most intense fans

I think Caleb has a great great opportunity to bring excitement back to the Chicago Bear fan base something that has been missing for a long time no disrespect to NFL fans but college football fans are just different next level um yeah and we know your uh your rose bll title game has gone down as one of the best games ever but I want to know which fan base it could be USC or a different fan base but um who was the most intense you think oh my god um let's see so my freshman year this first game um we played against Auburn in Auburn um this is my first game ever and I had never I didn't had never been to the South um hadn't experienced you know SEC football yet and Auburn at this time was really good they were highly ranked um they had a ton of first- round draft picks that came out of that Team guys like Carlos Rogers Carlos Dansby um Cadillac Williams Ronnie Brown um and that team was stacked and so I just never forget that being my first you know kind of um experience in college football and going into a really hostile environment and and seeing the entire Stadium wearing Auburn colors it felt like we had no USC fans there it was loud it was crazy and then I'll never forget walking out of the locker room they had a real tiger in this cage sitting right by our locker room know know I'm not Li to you I swear to God had a real tiger in in this cage and and the tiger was obviously not happy because why would he be happy in that enironment and so we like what the hell is this like we thought we was G play football now we gotta walk past this tiger you know so um you know there's a ton of um obviously passionate fans and fan bases but I just I'll never forget that experience man going into that being my first game ever in college football and just going into the SEC in the South obviously it was hot and just it felt like the entire stadyum was against us I want to talk a little bit about your Alma moer USC just one of the many teams who is actually uh was a part of that huge conference realignment they're joining the Big 10 so this is kind of like a two-parter but I want to know your thoughts on them joining the Big 10 and also with them having one of the toughest schedules do you think that they can come away from the season as Big 10 Champs well I think yeah I think it's definitely possible um one I like linol riy a lot I think he's a great offensive mind um the one thing you're going to see from Lincoln Riley is is offensive explosiveness right you're going to see uh weapons all across the field um great quarterback play obviously he's now I don't know how four or five eisan troping winning quarterbacks so um he's clearly built you know for for this role and this opportunity um and I was excited when I saw them going to the big 10 I was also you know a little sad because it was the end of the Pack 12 um which was you know the the the conference that I played in it was a pack 10 actually back then but um you know it was just kind of sad to see the Pack 12 you know gone and and you know never to come back U just because that was like our West Coast brand you know what I'm saying our West Coast brand of football and it was it was different than the other brands of football that you saw on TV um but you know once I saw obviously the change I believe in change I think change is always good um and the change that I see um especially for USC is extremely positive um they're going to play very tough opponents um which I think should not be something um they should be worried about but something that I see as it's going to elevate their play because when you play against the best um that's going to elevate you um and so I think this team is primed for this opportunity um you know I think um now what we're seeing is the conference of realignment we're seeing two we're driving towards two super conferences really it's going to be the SEC and the Big 10 and what I mean by that is that's where we're going to see a lot of the big games right the big um Blockbuster Games you know on on Saturdays um and so I'm excited about the change I love it I think it's great for college football I love seeing USC now going into the Big 10 because this is a very tough conference and it's always been held as one of the tougher conferences and um they got work to do you know so that you you have to be excited about that opportunity man last few questions for you here Caleb Williams is another USC great and he's going to be the Bears QB W in the NFL this season so have you at all had a chance to talk to him from that about that transition from college to the pros and also do you think that he can what do you think he can accomplish his rookie year yeah I had opportunity to speak to Caleb a few times um and you know I think the world of Caleb I think he's a great great offensive uh I mean great quarterback um he's just an offensive weapon right he just he brings so much to the game um you know he's been compared to Patrick Mahomes um and you know I love that comparison because you know the things that I see in Mahomes are similar to things I see in him and that's the ability to be able to maneuver in the pocket to be able to extend plays with his legs to be unpredictable you know to the dline when they're rushing him and to be able to also utilize his legs uh when when need be um to go get a first down right to go score touchdown um and he's not he's not an easy tackle either you know that's the other thing as well is um once he does take off and run he's not easy to tackle and so I just pray for him to stay healthy because that's the only thing that can slow him down honestly it's just you know it's just getting injured and obviously that's a natural part of uh of the game um the hund the NFL has a 100% injury rate so it's not a matter of if you get injured it's a matter of when you get injured and you know you just hope that um it's not a big nothing massive nothing bad that's going to set him back um but man I think Caleb has a great great opportunity to bring excitement back to the Chicago Bear fan base something that has been missing for a long time um there and also great quarterback play and I think when you when you think about Chicago Bears um there's a very few quarterbacks I can think of you know that um just stand out to me that were top of the top of the food chain right the top quarterbacks in the league and so he has an opportunity to do something in Chicago that maybe hasn't even been done before yet is is bringing this exciting QB play um you know from a dual threat quarterback perspective um that they have never ever had there before and that is uh what I see that's an opportunity that he has he has opportunity to really capture this fan base right away and he's already done that with some of the plays he's made and preseason everybody's excited about some of these things he's been making um but he's just got to stay focused I think he'll do that as well he seems like he has a great head on his shoulders and he has ice water in his veins too that's the other thing I love about him like he doesn't you don't see him stress when the when the moment gets really big and he's just a very cool com collected um I saw a video the other day where he said he doesn't even get nervous before game which is great um so yeah yeah uh last question for you touching on the NFL very quickly um I'm curious what your thoughts are on the state of running backs in the league because obviously they've been fighting for years now to get the money that they feel like they deserve and when you see wide receivers just pulling down these millions like CD Lamb's contract of course it only kind of helps to fuel that argument so what is your take on the current current state of running backs in the league do you feel like it's it's coming it's coming soon or do you feel like this is going to be sort of that ongoing uh fight for a while unfortunately I don't see anything positive changing for the running back Market um and the issue is obviously because it's funny but it's the issue has always been is that running backs get injured well yeah they're GNA get injured when you're playing in a sport that is built off of you know it's a barbaric Sport and nature it's it's it's a ferocious sport this is you know highspeed contact highs speed collisions and that happens a lot obviously more often for running backs than other positions right and so the thing I always you know I've always related to playing running back is like you you're playing running back but you're always every time you're hitting somebody you're always outweighed usually by that linebacker or by that defensive lineman and so you know you're always put in these you know these very difficult positions and and um you know I always have prided running backs and being the workhorses of the teams um you know I know now that is kind of change to quarterbacks or receivers because the the game has gone more towards throwing the football but you still need great running backs you have to you know Caleb Williams needs a great running back behind him he needs a great run game behind him so that it can take the pressure off of the throwing game because you don't want team to just be sitting back and just playing the pass all day and letting their defensive ends run up the field full speed knowing that you're throwing the ball every single play there has to be even Ballance and I think the teams that understand that like 49ers are great example of that um which is why they've had so much success why they've been able to get to the Super Bowl as many times as they had and also do it with some quarterbacks who have been unproven as well right and so all a lot of that comes from the Run game and you know I unfortunately I just don't see it changing for running backs anytime soon um a lot of that has to do with just we just we need we to get to guaranteed contracts for for all players right um and then we'll have more skin in the game we'll have more say so at the table but until we get guaranteed contract it's just always G to be tough from running backs because once you get injured one time they're like up see told you he's injury prom and you know it's it's unfair to tag someone as injury prong because everybody gets injured in the NFL so we must all be injured PR hey sports fans if you want to see more conversations with athletes and stars check out these videos right here and be sure to subscribe for more from USA Today sports