The No. 13 USC Trojans will host the Wisconsin Badgers in their Big Ten conference home opener on Saturday, Sept. 28.

The game is a sell out and the stakes are high for the 2-1 Trojans, who will likely be missing a few key players due to injury.

USC quarterback Miller Moss and coach Lincoln Riley are looking to bounce back and make a statement that they belong in the College Football Playoff discussion after losing to the Michigan Wolverines in Week 4.

Wisconsin hopes to adjust after the Badgers lost their starting quarterback Tyler Van Dyke to a season ending knee injury in their loss to Alabama. Quarterback Braedyn Locke will start in his place. The Badgers will also be without defensive lineman James Thompson Jr. – who is out for the season with an upper body injury.

What is the latest injury update on USC tight end Lake McRee, safety Akili Arnold and receiver Makai Lemon?

The good news on McRee’s injury is that it is not season-ending, as initially feared.

“Lake’s a great player,” said Riley. “Hate not to have him here right away but we’ll get him back soon.”

McRee went down with a knee injury after taking a low hit from Michigan cornerback Jyaire Hill in the third quarter last Saturday. McRee is expected to return at some point this season, but his status for Wisconsin is questionable.

The safety Arnold got banged up against Michigan but his availability looks promising.

“He’s been limited early this week, but hopeful to have him,” Riley said about Arnold’s availability for the game vs. Wisconsin Badgers.

A very scary moment in Week 4 – Lemon had to take an ambulance to the University of Michigan hospital after suffering an apparent head injury in the first quarter against the Wolverines. Lemon was injured on punt coverage, when he suffered a nasty hit. He was able to walk off the field but appeared shaken up.

“He’s doing good,” Riley said on Monday. “He’s rebounded back well, I think as good as you could possibly hope for with that scary of a situation… You obviously never want to see that. Thankfully bounced back well, was able to fly home with us that night and is doing very well.”

Lemon is a sophomore for USC and has four receptions for 45 yards and one touchdown in the Trojans’ first two games. Last season, Lemon played both wide receiver and cornerback. On offense, he recorded six receptions for 88 yards (14.7 avg.) with a long of 40 yards. He also recorded one tackle.

Every Big Ten team is required to submit an official injury report two hours before kickoff and the Trojans have a relatively clean bill of health as they enter the game vs. the Badgers.

Will update with the official report.

The Badgers face the tough task of defending Moss and his offensive weapons. Moss is off to a hot start, throwing for 890 yards, five touchdowns and just one pick through three games. Moss leads a USC passing offense that ranks No. 1 in the Big Ten Conference (318.7). Keep an eye on running back Woody Marks, who has 271 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns. 

HOW TO WATCH

USC will host the Wisconsin Badgers in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum at 12:30 p.m. PT. on Saturday, September 28th. The TV broadcast will be on CBS.

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An off-duty security guard accidentally shot himself at a Wisconsin Lutheran High School football game Friday night, sending the players and fans running for the exits, the school said in a statement.

The guard, who is not affiliated with the school, received medical attention and his injuries are not life-threatening, according to school officials.

Milwaukee police didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment late Friday night. The incident took place at Zeitler Stadium, which is just south of the school located near North 84th Street and West Bluemound Road.

The finish of the game, between Wisconsin Lutheran and Milwaukee Lutheran, was called off as a result of the incident. Wisconsin Luthern was leading 42-0 at the time.

WISN-TV cameras were rolling at the football game when the incident took place. Following the “pop” sound, players on the field immediately ran for cover while students and parents in the stands scrambled for the exits.

The PA announcer can be heard saying, “Everybody hold tight.”

The school said it would be reviewing safety protocols. “We pride ourselves on maintaining a safe environment for our students and all who are involved with our football program,” the statement states.

About a year ago, shots erupted at a Milwaukee Lutheran football game against Pius XI Catholic, similarly sending people running for cover. No one was injured in the incident.

Zac Bellman contributed to this report.

A high-voltage transmission line carrying clean power from Iowa to Wisconsin overcame lengthy environmental pushback to enter service this week, some 13 years after grid operators approved the project, developers said Friday.

The Cardinal-Hickory Creek 345,000-volt transmission line, which ships clean power from Iowa to Wisconsin, came to exemplify the struggles of constructing U.S. power lines at a time of swiftly rising electricity demand. Environmental groups had sued to stop it from traversing the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge near Cassville, Wisconsin, north of Dubuque. 

“Following years of work, including numerous opportunities for public input, extensive regulatory and environmental review, and construction, the entire Cardinal-Hickory Creek line has been placed in service,” said Dusky Terry, president of the line’s co-owner ITC Midwest. ATC and Dairyland Power Cooperative also are partial owners of the 102-mile project.

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As of June, 160 renewable generation projects in the upper Midwestern states totaling nearly 25 gigawatts of capacity were dependent upon completion of the Cardinal-Hickory Creek line, the co-owners said.

The Biden administration applauded the completion of the line and lauded it as a crucial step towards bringing clean power to the Midwest.

“It takes perseverance to build the infrastructure we need and the Cardinal Hickory Creek Project proves that we can get the job done by bringing clean, affordable power to Wisconsin and Iowa,” said John Podesta, senior advisor to President Joe Biden for international climate policy.

In May, a U.S. appeals court lifted a lower court’s order blocking a land exchange needed before developers could build the final stretch of the major clean-energy transmission line through the wildlife refuge.