A few USC fans lingered in the field suite with windows into the Trojans postgame interview room.

They moved to the glass as coach Clay Helton along with players Max Browne and Adoree' Jackson sat down behind microphones late Saturday night. What followed isn't what you'd expect from a program of USC's caliber fresh off the most lopsided loss in 50 years.

Smiles and waves were returned by a grinning Jackson who winked and waved moments after Alabama delivered a 52-6 beating. It was unlike any scene witnessed after a Crimson Tide loss in the past eight years.

There weren't many smiles beside Jackson's outside the Trojan locker room. It was just, perhaps not as somber as you'd expect after a 46-point loss on primetime ABC.

What players then said pointed to how far the proud program still has to climb from its mid-2000s heyday.

"Somewhere in that game, we kinda got thinking we were overwhelmed at some point," said running back Justin Davis. "Some people might have thought they were better than us -- just too strong. But we can't have that mindset because we have the players. We just have to go out there and play confident."

This USC team entered ranked 20th -- seemingly with a touch of the Reggie Bush-era swagger returning. But careless mistakes cascaded into the second-worst loss in USC history.

There were shades of Alabama's 2015 loss to Ole Miss in the Trojans performance. Alabama scored 14 points off an interception and botched punt snap. Another seven came on a miscommunication that sent both safety and cornerback on a blitz to leave ArDarius Stewart uncovered for a 71-yard touchdown.

"Obviously, the score is super one-sided," USC quarterback Max Browne said. "But if you look back, a few plays here in there could have changed the momentum, probably could have changed the game."

Adoree' Jackson greets Lane Kiffin after Alabama's 52-6 win over USC as Calvin Ridley runs past.

Browne points to a first-half pass he under-threw to All-American JuJu Smith Schuster as a blown opportunity to jump ahead 10-0. Instead, Alabama scored the next 38 points.

"You're well aware you're playing the No. 1 team in the country, but at the same time, we think we're right up there with them," Browne said after making his first start. "If you would have said this would be the outcome of the game midway through the second quarter, I would have said you were absolutely crazy . . . Like I said, a few plays here or there -- it might sound crazy -- but it changes the course of the game.

"But that's why they're the best in the business right now. The fact they stay the course and know how to handle the ups and downs, that's something you have to work on for sure."

Davis, the running back who ran seven times for two net yards, alluded to other issues.

"The name of the game is, if you know your plays and you know them by heart, you can play as fast as you can," he said. "That just wasn't the case today."

And that's after a month to prepare for the season-opener against the defending national champions.

"I really thought that preparation-wise, we had come in the game and were ready," Clay Helton said after his first game as USC's permanent head coach. "And that's on me, to be honest with you . . . And like I told them in there, I got no time to feel sorry for myself, neither do they in that room."

It just takes a little time to recover from the NCAA sanctions that limited scholarship allowances in recent years.

The Trojans still have top-end talent like Smith-Schuster. Alabama just had a gameplan to limit the Pac-12's top 2015 receiver to one catch for nine yards.

"They didn't do anything crazy or special," Davis said later. "They just outplayed us. We weren't ready. That's the thing that we have to take upon ourselves, to be more prepared for a team like this. Going forward, we have to be on our Ps and Qs to play a team of this caliber. We just can't win off of talent."

There were a few mental breakdowns, the most glaring of which came on a Trojan kickoff return down 10-3 in the third. Jabari Ruffin got tossed for stomping on the groin of Alabama's Minkah Fitzpatrick. That forced USC to start the drive from its own 10 yard-line. Two plays later, Marlon Humphrey intercepted Browne and dashed 18 short yards for a 17-3 lead.

"The Pick 6 was tough," Browne said, "but with that play, what are you going to do?"

Safety Chris Hawkins was part of the confusion that left Stewart so wide open for a back-breaking score.

The same Trojan defense limited Alabama to 12 total yards in 10 first-quarter snaps.

"We were under control, speaking for the defense," Hawkins said. "We knew we could play with these guys, watching film. We knew their personnel. We knew what they had coming back. I felt like we knew who they were going to be. They were who we thought they were. We felt good even coming in at halftime. Nobody was down. We were up.

"We felt good. Then we had a miscommunication and things went downhill from there."