It was as good a scene for college football as you could see, and the moment wasnt too big for them. They really walked in there with a sense of maturity and confidence. Hey, lets just focus on our job. L

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Odell Beckham Jr. and Josh Norman avoided any fighting words just days before resuming their football feud.Whether the Giants receiver and the Redskins cornerback can play nice on the field Sunday when Washington comes to MetLife Stadium for an NFC East rivalry game remains to be seen.Both were relatively low-key in discussing their upcoming first meeting since last December , when the two acted like kids trying to be the toughest guy on the block. That was in a game between the Giants and Carolina Panthers, Normans team until he signed with Washington as a free agent in the offseason.The game was an ugly lowlight reel. The two pushed, shoved, took swings, wrestled, had a couple late hits and did a lot of trash talking. The most flagrant action came in the third quarter when Beckham delivered a diving helmet-to-helmet hit on All-Pro Norman while blocking.Beckham drew three personal fouls and was suspended one game by the NFL for multiple violations of safety-related playing rules.The Giants biggest receiving threat, Beckham was on his best behavior Wednesday while discussing any potential problem with Norman.Since then, I really have learned a lot, said Beckham, who was forced to sit out a game against Minnesota. You just have to take it. All you can do is learn from it. You cant go back. If I could, I wouldnt go back and change a single thing that happened. Thats how life happens. Things happened for a reason and everything happens for a reason.The 23-year-old 2014 first-round pick says the most important thing is helping the Giants (2-0) win, a result which would leave the Redskins three games behind New York.Norman says he is still working on forgiving Beckham for the helmet-to-helmet hit.That was last year, he said. I think things that happen in the past stay in the past, whether they are here or not.An ESPN report out of Washington said Norman had been assigned to play Beckham one on one every play except those in which the receiver lined up in the slot. Norman said he didnt get that memo, but he would not mind if that was the case.Heck yeah, why not? Norman said. Shoot man, thats the competitor thats inside of me, man. I dont shy away from nobody. Oh my gosh. When you go on Sunday (it) reeks and oozes with confidence. I dont bow down to nobody or their thoughts of me. I try to make my own. And when I do, I impose my own will. So I try to do that each and every time I step on the football field.Beckham leads the Giants with eight catches for 159 yards, a 13.3-yard average.Hes really a good player, Norman said. No hate whatsoever, man. The guy can play ball. I think the competitor in me likes that. Just challenged to get up for that.Giants coach Ben McAdoo doesnt expect an encore from Beckham and Norman.I think they put on a great show, the rookie head coach said. You have two outstanding competitors at the top of their game. Two premier players in this league. I think they put on a great show for everyone.Beckham said his play will be dictated by the Giants game plan. He will line up where they tell him and run the patterns they want. He expects the Redskins secondary will try to annoy him.Its part of their game plan, the third-year receiver said. I would do the same. Its mental warfare. Its the art of war. Theres different ways to attack it.If Norman shadows Beckham, that could open up things for Victor Cruz and rookie Sterling Shepard, who have eight and 11 catches, respectively. Looking back on last season, Beckham did not do badly against Norman, finishing with six catches for 76 yards and a touchdown. He also dropped a sure TD pass early in the game.While he may not be saying anything to provoke Norman, Beckham insists his game wont change.Have you ever watched Russell Westbrook play basketball? Beckham said. He plays with a lot of emotion or passion, whatever you want to call it. Its whats best for some players and whats not best for some players. You use it and just be smart. Play smart. Its football at the end of the day.---Ian Quillen in Ashburn, Virginia contributed to this report.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP-NFLCheap Air Max 90 Free Shipping . Thousands of Southern California fans enveloped the Trojans to celebrate an improbable win secured by an interim coach, an inconsistent kicker and a thin defence that wouldnt break. Wholesale Air Max 90 Kpu . Fellow centre Pavel Datsyuk remains out because of a concussion. Zetterberg has 11 goals and 19 assists for a team-high 30 points, and Datsyuk has a team-high 12 goals and 11 assists. http://www.wholesale90airmax.com/wholesale-air-max-90-essential/womens.html ., for the next three years with the signings on Monday of Daryl Townsend and Michael Carter. Air Max 90 Sneakerboot For Sale . They were putting most of their energy into a record-setting offensive display. Air Max 90 Essential Mens Sale . Note: The Calgary Flames announced Tuesday that Sean Monahan would not be made available to Canadas World Junior team.LOS ANGELES -- Cmon, Clay Helton. You know you want to. Heres your chance. Heres your chance to tell all the college football experts to go do something anatomically impossible.All he does is give a hearty laugh.Not my style, Helton said. Not my style.Helton is the former soon-to-be-former USC coach. He spent the first month of his first head coaching season hearing why he shouldnt get a second. Now Helton is the middle of his third month, and his No. 13 Trojans are 7-3 with a six-game winning streak as they prepare to finish their Pac-12 schedule at UCLA (10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN). USC is a half-game behind No. 10 Colorado, and a half-game ahead of Utah, in the Pac-12 South.The Trojans actually can win the division. If they beat the Bruins (4-6, 2-5), and if No. 22 Washington State wins at Colorado, and the Buffs go on to beat No. 12 Utah next week, then the courtly Helton would have every right to say something that is not his style.Google Clay Helton and you dont have to scroll down very far. The fifth story is, Clay Helton Must Be Fired and USC Needs to Find a Real Head Coach. The seventh and ninth stories provide five names as possible replacements. Those three stories were published in late September, when USC had a record of 1-3.The ready-fire-aim section of my business did itself proud. Yeah, the Trojans got humiliated by Alabama in the opener, 52-6. It turned out that USC, in its first game, literally was not ready for the big time. The atmosphere in Cowboys Stadium, not to mention the Crimson Tide themselves, overwhelmed the Trojans.Yep, they followed with an equally inept offensive performance at Stanford two weeks later in a 27-10 loss. After that game, Helton benched fourth-year junior quarterback Max Browne for redshirt freshman Sam Darnold.He played well in his first start, at Utah, but the Trojans lost fumbles on their first three offensive possessions, and then gave up a touchdown with :16 to play to lose 31-27. All they had to show for the first month of the season was a victory over Utah State and a rabble that had been roused.Gah, Helton said, that feels like years ago.His family rallied around him. In the days after the Utah game, his daughter Aubrey, a high school senior, came up to him, gave him a big hug, and said, Daddy, dont worry about it. Its all going to be good.Not even Aubrey knew how good. But her daddy had an inkling. As the carping about Helton being overmatched reached a crescendo, he came away from the Utah loss convinced that the Trojans would be fine. He wont tell you six-wins-in-a-row, 13th-ranked, division-contender fine. But fine. This wasnt a team pointing fingers across the locker room.There were guys coming up on their own to watch extra film in our meeting rooms and taking it upon themselves to bring their teammates with them, Helton said. Thats what hurt, losing that game, because I saw what each kid was trying to do to help this team win.Helton seized on that kernel of determination and, as the geniuses speculated on his successor -- four games into his career -- he let his team know that he paid it no mind.I kept telling myself, Remember, 18- to 21-year-olds look to their leader and look to their coaching staff, Helton said. How we react, theyre going to react. Just stay poiseed.ddddddddddddDont panic. Stay consistent in what youre doing and what you believe in and live with the results.Six starts later, Darnold is the best first-year quarterback in the FBS. Dont ask me, Jalen Hurts fans. Ask Darnolds QBR (86.8), fifth in the nation. Darnold has been so effective as a passer he has reopened the running lanes for backs Ronald Jones II and Justin Davis.That is as good a decision as any to probe whether Helton could coach his way out of a paper bag. With 20/20 hindsight, it seems perfectly obvious that Darnold is the better quarterback. But Helton remains steadfast that the full-speed decision he made to start Browne in the first three games is one he would make again.I had seen a kid, Max Browne, whos a redshirt junior, that had been in college football games, was efficient, had been a team captain, very respected by our team as a leader, Helton said. And I saw Sam, just this ultra-talented thing, just brilliance. But had never seen him in a ballgame, a real live college game.Browne didnt make mistakes, but he didnt make magic, either. Darnold proved he could handle major college football. Boy, could he. Should you blame Helton for not getting Darnold ready for the opener? You should, as long as you ignore that the offense had a new coordinator, the defense had a new coordinator, and so did the special teams. That contributed to the slow start as well.Look at the way the defense has improved over the course of the season: five sacks in the first four games, 14 in the next six. The Trojans have allowed an average of 18 points per game during their six-game winning streak.USC is coming off a 26-13 victory at No. 4 Washington, a vivid illustration of how far the Trojans have progressed since that loss to Alabama. Here was another fast, talented team. Here was a game in Husky Stadium, one of the most intimidating atmospheres in college football. USC didnt wilt this time.As I look back on our entire season, it really culminated in last week, Helton said. ...I just saw unbelievable poise and maturity. It was as electric an atmosphere as you could possibly have. It was as good a scene for college football as you could see, and the moment wasnt too big for them. They really walked in there with a sense of maturity and confidence. Hey, lets just focus on our job. Lets dont care about the stadium. Lets dont care about the noise. Lets dont care about the weather. Lets just get our job done.They have two rivalry games remaining -- Notre Dame comes west next week -- and Helton said he has seen no heads swelled by the win at Washington. Coach Overmatched could end up with a 10-win season. And a Pac-12 title. The guy that the internet fired seven weeks ago may end up in the Rose Bowl.Heltons unfailingly polite, unerringly even-keeled, unbelievably unexciting personality ended up being just the right touch for a young team. So, cmon, Coach. Let it go. Tell the experts off.You have to be very strong-willed, Helton said. You have to have thick skin. And dont get your feelings hurt. Believe in what youre doing. Believe in the things youre doing for kids.Oh, well. They got off lucky. ' ' '