MOSCOW, Idaho --

KREM 2 Sports

The first-year head coach of the Idaho Vandal football team says he's trying to keep his team focused, just three days before they're due to take on national powerhouse USC.

Robb Akey says, "I'm gonna make sure that we kind of keep them calmed down. We need to get that furnace turned down from high to pilot light here till we get to kickoff time."

Akey's tenure in Moscow starts after a year of disruptions.

Several Vandal players or former players have been arrested.

Former coach Dennis Erickson left the program last year after just a single season for a new job in Arizona.

Akey, a former Washington State University assistant takes on the nation's Number 1 team USC this Saturday on its home turf.

He says he's approaching it as if it's just another game.

Akey says, "We need to treat each one of the games the same way."