(James Santelli/Neon Tommy)

He understands that they don’t like the game he called on offense in the Trojans’ 10-7 loss to Washington State.

And he knows one person that likes it even less than they do: himself.

“I don't enjoy calling the game the way that it was the other day, I just felt it was the best thing for us to win,” the Trojans head coach said after practice on Thursday. “It's not about me, it's about winning. That's not ideal. I'd love to throw the ball downfield all day long and score 50 points, but I don't know if at times that it's the best thing for this team.”

Kiffin’s Trojans get the chance to redeem themselves on Saturday when they take on Boston College and while he won’t say whether or not he will air it out more, he has been pleased with how redshirt sophomore Cody Kessler has comported himself since being named the starting quarterback on Monday.

“I think Cody has had a great week,” Kiffin said. “He's really meshed with the skill guys and I expect him to play really well.”

One thing that starting job could help is Kessler’s presence in the locker room. Kiffin admitted that “it’s fair to say” that Kessler is a natural leader who has the respect of his teammates, while Kessler himself admitted Tuesday that knowing the job is his gives him a new kind of confidence. But Kiffin believes what might help him even more is getting a chance to be back on the field after not taking a snap since his senior year of high school.

“Cody hasn't played for a long time,” he said. “It's been three years since he's played football. Now he's finally gotten to play some and make some mistakes like everybody does. He’ll learn from those, grow from those and get better.”

As for the Trojans, “better” can no longer mean a perfect season. Unsurprisingly, Kiffin has emphasized to his team to keep their focus on themselves while limiting outside distractions. Doing that, after such a difficult loss, has been easier said than done, however.

“It's not been easy,” he admitted. “For me as a coach, i have to remember that they're going to get that on the outside all the time. They're going to get that from the kids in their class, their friends, their families. They're still talking about the last game. We can't get to 3-0, it's impossible. We can only get to 2-1.”

Contact Mike Piellucci here. Follow him on Twitter here.