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Former USC defensive tackle Armond Armstead has declared for the NFL draft but was not allowed to work out at the school’s Pro Day on Wednesday, he said in an interview during the event on USC’s campus.

He plans to hold a private workout at a to-be-determined location on April 9.

Armstead, who did not play for the Trojans last season because of an unspecified medical condition, said he was informed by the school Tuesday night that he would not be able to participate based on the word of university attorneys.

Previously, USC athletic director Pat Haden had told him he’d be permitted to work out in front of NFL officials in advance of next month’s NFL draft.

Armstead had a year of college eligibility left before he signed with an agent this offseason. He initially planned to play out the year wherever his brother, high-school senior Arik, chose as his college destination.

But Arik Armstead signed with Oregon, and Armstead wasn’t allowed to transfer within the Pac-12 because of normal intra-conference regulations. So he decided to declare for the NFL draft after exploring other options.

After the 2010 season, Armstead received a second-round draft grade back from the NFL, he said. But he chose to return to school for his senior season with the hope of developing into a first-rounder. The following March, he was hospitalized with chest pain for five days and was never again cleared by the university for athletic competition.

“Of course I was upset that I couldn’t play,” he said on Wednesday. “It’s no ill will toward anyone, but I was obviously upset with the situation, not upset with anyone.”

Armstead weighed in at 6-5 and 285 pounds during Pro Day, appearing considerably lighter than he had during various appearances at USC’s practices last season.

One of the benefits to getting USC coach Lane Kiffin in a room for 30 minutes where he's obligated to listen to a never-ending stream of questions and answer most of them is it equals an opportunity to get some long-standing questions answered. Here are notes going off of his most interesting answers:

Scholarship count

By now, it's well-known that the Trojans have to be at 75 total scholarships or fewer by the time fall camp comes around in August. Kiffin has said it over and over in recent months as a reminder that his USC team is still very much under sanctions.

But he refuses to reveal where his squad is at right now, after taking on 12 more signees this week and five as January enrollees. The only hint he would give to the team's roster status was telling a reporter who asked about it Wednesday that it's not quite as grim as he might imagine.

Luckily, we can do the math and get a tentative number for where the Trojans stand right now.

With the 17 new players added to the 60 scholarship returners, USC has 77 players on scholarship as of now, as far as we know. That number does not include players like Armond Armstead but does include the former walk-ons who were given scholarships, like linebacker Will Andrew.

We'll get into who else is no longer part of the program further down. But 77 is a manageable number.

Scroggins' future?

It might end up being 76 if Jesse Scroggins can't get his academics together. The redshirt sophomore quarterback from nearby Lakewood High has "fallen behind" in school, per Kiffin, and "has a lot of work to do" to become eligible for the 2012 season.

Of course, the Trojans also put on a huge late recruiting push for Colorado prep quarterback Cyler Miles, a similar signal-caller to Scroggins. So it's obvious that USC isn't exactly counting on Scroggins being a part of the team in the long term.

And, in front of him on the depth chart Cody Kessler and Max Wittek, who are both a year younger too. That could be an issue.

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National Signing Day is in 16 days, on Feb. 1.

On that day, USC plans to sign 15 players, the most it's allowed to sign under NCAA-mandated limitations because of the sanctions. But will that work, considering the NCAA is also mandating the Trojans keep their total number of scholarships handed out at 75?

It's going to take some finagling. Looking at the updated scholarship math after the latest wave of transfers, USC will still have to create some more spots by the time the 2012 season comes around in one way or another.

Position by position, as of Monday, the Trojans have four quarterbacks, three running backs, two fullbacks, five receivers, four tight ends, four offensive tackles, four guards, three centers, four defensive ends, four defensive tackles, eight linebackers, six cornerbacks, five safeties and three special-teamers on scholarship.

That's 59 players, not including Amir Carlisle, Brice Butler, Kyle Prater, Armond Armstead, T.J. Bryant and Patrick Hall, who have all left the program or are very near leaving.

Then add six more players who are expected to begin attending classes at USC by the Jan. 27 spring-semester deadline: Morgan Breslin, Scott Starr, DeVante Wilson, Gerald Bowman, Chad Wheeler and Josh Shaw.

That's 65 players. With a 75-man cap and 15 players presumably coming in the summer in the class of 2012, that means five more players still have to go. Where will those five players come from?

There are a few possibilities -- let's run through some of them.

-- Three former walk-ons who earned scholarships could have them revoked: offensive lineman Abe Markowitz, linebacker Will Andrew and safety Tony Burnett.

-- Bowman may not finish his junior-college requirements in time to enroll for the spring. That would push him back to the summer and lower USC's total.

-- One or two or a few players could still transfer. Prime candidates would appear to be those locked in at their spots behind younger players.

Those are three primary ways USC could get down to the maximum. Other more-creative, less-likely options are the oft-thrown-around ideas that (1) certain players could give up their scholarships for a year or (2) players who participate in other sports could get supported on scholarships from those sports.

But neither makes much sense -- firstly, it's not just the cost of attendance that a scholarship covers, it also provides the chance to eat in the athletic cafeteria and other similar privileges. And, secondly, there aren't too many football players still playing other sports. There are a few Track & Field athletes, but scholarships are at a premium there too.

Of course, USC could also grey-shirt a signee or two who doesn't qualify and have him come in next January, by which time more current players could transfer. There are ways around it.

We've looked at the USC Trojans' top 10 moments from 2011 and the top 10 performers as well. Now, with the final days of the year approaching, we take a look at the five most pressing questions surrounding Lane Kiffin's Trojans in 2012. We'll unveil one each day this week, counting down from No. 5 Monday to No. 1 on Friday.

Question No. 5 covered the Associated Press preseason top 25. Question No. 4, then, is this: How will USC work around the NCAA-sanctioned scholarship limits set to hit in February?

Here's the deal: Signing Day is Feb. 2. Most schools around the country will sign in the range of 25 players to letters of intent that day, setting it up for them to enroll over summer and join the team in fall camp.

USC can only sign 15, by the NCAA's mandate in sanctions placed upon the school in June 2010. And, to make matters worse, the Trojans have to keep their overall scholarships under 75, per another aspect of the sanctions.

That is going to be an issue. By our count, USC has 66 players on its roster who were on scholarship in 2011 and who plan to play football at the college level next year. The Trojans have already signed four players this month to enroll in January and plan to sign two or three more, per coach Lane Kiffin. There are also seven players verbally committed to USC and many, many more who are being recruited by the school. Even with just seven, though, that's already more than 75.

So, what gives? Some players are going to have to be dropped off scholarship or transfer, whether by choice or suggestion. Armond Armstead, Brice Butler and T.J. Bryant seem likely candidates to fall in the transfer category. Three former walk-ons -- Will Andrew, Abe Markowitz and Tony Burnett -- could see their scholarships dropped.

Even then, though, if all six are no longer on scholarship next fall and USC signs 15 players in February and takes on two more early enrollees for January to make six, that equates to 81 players. Six more would have to go.

The problem isn't so much depth -- the last 10 scholarship guys on a college football team are largely insurance policies in case the first 75 get hurt. The problem is that cutting 20-year-olds loose is never easy.

The challenge for Kiffin and the Trojans will be to do it gracefully.

Check back Tuesday for question No. 3, which deals with the new offensive systems taking root in a few Pac-12 schools and how USC will adjust to them.

After concluding our series on the top 10 moments of the 2011 USC football season, we've started a new series on the Trojans' top 10 performers this year. With one player per day Monday-Friday, the list will last until Friday, Dec. 23.

Coming in at No. 10 Monday was safety T.J. McDonald, at No. 9 on Tuesday was defensive tackle Christian Tupou and No. 8 on Wednesday was running back Curtis McNeal. Here's No. 7: defensive end Nick Perry.

If Tupou was, as we wrote Tuesday, the key to the USC run defense's rapid improvement from 2010 to 2011, then Perry was the catalyst to the pass defense's development over the course of the 2011 season.

It was still a weakness, no doubt. But Perry and his conference-leading 9.5 sacks and three forced fumbles were a big part of the unit's emergence as the season progressed. He didn't reach his stated goal of 15-plus sacks, but 9.5 is a worthy sum in itself, and the fact that he led the entire conference says quite a bit about what that number means.

And it wasn't just the sacks -- it was the pressure, and even the threat of pressure. Ask the conference's coaches who they think was the most dominating defensive player in the conference in 2011, and half of them will mention Perry's name. Offensive linemen sweated their meetings with him all year long.

Where does Perry stand now? He hasn't publicly announced a decision whether to stay for his senior season or head to next April's NFL draft, but he has a great shot to go high in the draft if he does indeed declare. He has everything an NFL team would want: enough production, incredible measures, and a solid work ethic and just-do-it mentality.

He won't win any personality awards, sure. He never looked comfortable talking to the media in his four years at USC. But that really doesn't matter.

Perry, 21, quietly went about his business. He had some shining moments, too, demonstrating a knack for knocking the ball out of quarterback's hands.

The next question: How will USC replace him, if he does indeed declare? Luckily, the Trojans had a three-man rotation at end all season, so there won't be any new players taking the majority of the snaps. Seniors-to-be Devon Kennard and Wes Horton will handle that. Where will the third and fourth ends come from?

Well, if Armond Armstead comes back and is cleared to compete, there's an easy answer. Greg Townsend Jr. seems like a likely candidate -- and junior-to-be Kevin Greene is going to get some snaps, too. But none of those players will replace the true dynamic pass-rushing ability Perry offers.

Check back Friday for performer No. 6, another defensive player.

Notes and quotes from Trojans coach Lane Kiffin's conference call Sunday looking back at USC’s 50-0 win over UCLA at the Coliseum and looking forward to the offseason and next year:

• As always, Kiffin said he didn't notice much difference while watching the tape a day after the game, but he did have some positive things to say about the overall development of his team in relation to the caliber of Saturday's win. He was pleased, essentially, that the Trojans' best game came in their last -- especially considering the circumstances and that USC knew when its last game was going to be from the start. "To have a game like that in the middle of the season is always good, but to do it in the last game..." Kiffin said, trailing off.

• Kiffin also said the 2011 Trojans made him better as a coach and a person, saying that he had taken a lot from the group's perseverance over this season and last -- but especially this season. As he showed in his postgame news conference, the 36-year-old coach was truly emotional about the victory and not afraid to show it. "Whenever people put a lot of energy and passion into something, you get more out of that and you get a feeling of emotion," Kiffin said. "The more you do this and the more you’re around, the more you see the players and you know these guys will be telling this story forever."

• He did take the opportunity to take one last parting shot at the NCAA at the conclusion of the season, questioning once again the fairness of banning USC from bowl games because of Reggie Bush's misdeeds several years ago. He used the same argument he has used in the past. "What was the purpose of taking away bowl games from these 18-year-old kids who were in fifth grade when those things took place?" Kiffin asked. "It’s really a shame."

• Who's better, Robert Woods or Marqise Lee? Kiffin seems to think it's the latter, calling it "pretty amazing" that Woods is a co-favorite for the Biletnikoff Award with Oklahoma State's Justin Blackmon and is arguably the second-best receiver on his own team. Is it a motivating tactic, meant to get Woods to come back with a vengeance in what will likely be his final college season next year? Perhaps, but Kiffin can at least make the argument that Lee's better. In the final five games of 2011, Lee totaled 703 yards -- good for 140-plus per game -- and seven touchdowns. His 1,143 yards on the year are 16th in the country. But Woods was clearly bothered by ankle, shoulder and elbow injuries this year, which we'll address later.

• One storyline to follow: Kiffin said Sunday the Trojans were the "most disliked" program in the country entering into the 2011 season but are no longer anywhere near that after their 10-win performance. He said he had been talking to a number of people around college football over the last few weeks and had come to a consensus that USC no longer fits that ball heading into 2012. "They got the entire country to really fall in love with them," Kiffin said of his Trojans.

• Two players who were expected to be seniors on the 2011 team have decisions to make about their futures this offseason in defensive tackle Armond Armstead and cornerback T.J. Bryant. Kiffin says he expects Bryant to transfer to an FCS school after he graduates in May so he can play somewhere for a season, but Armstead's decision isn't as clear-cut. He could transfer in a similar manner to Bryant, he could come back for his fifth year and presumably get cleared to play for the Trojans or declare for the NFL draft and hope to prove himself to teams in the pre-draft process. “He has a big decision to make here," Kiffin said. "He’s a great player and we would love to have him back here next year and have him make a run with us. Or he’ll make a decision and go be a great NFL player.”

• Final notes: Kiffin said a number of players would be undergoing minor surgeries in the offseason, including Woods (ankle) and running back Amir Carlisle (knee). ... Kiffin said he hoped to bring in five or six mid-year enrollees in January -- either junior-college players or early high-school enrollees. ... Kiffin said he texted quarterback Matt Barkley "first thing in the morning" Sunday to remind him that he's only 19 touchdown passes away from tying Matt Leinart's career mark.

Senior defensive tackle Armond Armstead practiced with the Trojans on Tuesday for the first time in several weeks, participating in individual drills with the other defensive linemen in advance of USC's Thursday game against Cal.

Armstead, who's redshirting the season because of medical issues and has skipped practices to focus on academics, did not take part in team drills and left Howard Jones Field early by a back way before speaking to the media. USC head coach Lane Kiffin indicated that the Trojans have no immediate plans to play Armstead this year, but they do plan to bring him with them to Cal on the team flight Wednesday.

"He's going to come on the trip with us, being from Northern California and knowing so many people up there," Kiffin said Tuesday. "We've involved him in meetings at times and stuff like that. His number one focus right now is getting his degree and he's doing a great job with that.

"He's got a full load this semester to finish up so that he can graduate and so it's good to have him back here running around."

Armstead, hospitalized for five days in March because of chest pain, will graduate a semester early with a sociology degree in mid-December. From there, he can do a few different things. He can enter the NFL draft, he can transfer to another school or he can return to the Trojans as a redshirt senior and presumably start next season.

Said Kiffin: "He's got a big decision to make in December and January -- whether he comes back and helps us win a championship or whether he goes to the NFL."

The only restriction on Armstead's transfer would be that he would have to go to a school offering a graduate program USC does not. It's not likely he'd be picked high in the draft -- he was thought of as a mid- to late-round selection after last season -- but there's a chance he could be scooped up late with a good combine showing. And if he stays with the Trojans he could begin work on a master's degree as well.

Most graduated seniors at USC opt for the communication management track, but he could apply for a number of other options, including a master's in business administration or a real estate degree.

Notes and quotes from Lane Kiffin's Sunday evening conference call after the Trojans' 38-17 win over Syracuse:

• A last look back at the contentious call on USC's final drive against the Orange, where Matt Barkley tried to throw the ball out of a timeout on first and five at the Syracuse five-yard line and was sacked on the play for a loss of 10 yards. The call was very peculiar -- Barkley hadn't thrown the ball in more than 10 minutes and 10 offensive plays, yet the Trojans asked to him throw once into the end zone. The natural assumption was that they wanted him to break the school record for touchdown passes in a game, but Kiffin denied that afterward, joking about the play and saying that offensive assistant Justin Mesa simply signaled in the wrong call from the sideline.

• Asked shortly afterward, Barkley said that was not the case and added that he wanted to give the ball to running back Curtis McNeal the whole time; Mesa said only there had been a "miscommunication" between he and the head coach and did not add any further context. Sunday, Kiffin took responsibility for the play but was still very vague about what exactly happened. "As the head coach, I'm accountable for that," he said. "That's not what I was hoping would happen in that situation. That's really all I got on it." He did add that he would've elected to pass when he was an offensive coordinator but not anymore.

• On the topic of Barkley, Kiffin said his junior signal-caller was "awesome" Saturday. And he noted, as we did, that five-touchdown games are becoming so commonplace for him that people barely talked about just how good he really was against Syracuse. Kiffin said Sunday he could've focused his entire 10-minute postgame news conference on how good Barkley was, but he only ended up talking about him for a total of about 30 seconds. "I think we have become accustomed around here to seeing those types of performances," Kiffin said. "Those types of days don't happen very often around the country. It's pretty cool that we expect that around here, that those are our standards."

• Kiffin spotlighted the play of McNeal, who ran hard late and finished as USC's leading rusher, as well as redshirt freshmen linebackers Dion Bailey and Hayes Pullard. Pullard "played as well as anybody" on the team against Utah and followed it up with another good game against Syracuse. Bailey's success at strongside linebacker -- he had nine tackles and a sack on Saturday -- has validated the coaches' decision to move him down from safety in the offseason and start him right away despite no in-game experience. "You get excited as a staff when experiments work," Kiffin said.

• Kiffin said he talked a "little bit" with defensive tackle Armond Armstead and his family, and plans to talk with them one more time in the next couple of days. He said there'd be "something" of an update on the senior's status Tuesday, which could be a final determination as to whether he'll play this season.

• Injury update: Linebacker Lamar Dawson sprained his left ankle on his final series in the fourth quarter and was wearing a walking boot as he exited the Coliseum on Saturday night. Kiffin did not rule out the possibility that he could play this week. There were no other serious injuries, Kiffin said.

Here's Trojans coach Lane Kiffin in an abbreviated session after Thursday's practice, discussing the outlook for the rest of Robert Woods' season, whether his USC team is due for a breakout game at this point and the current plan to meet with senior defensive lineman Armond Armstead and his father.

See the video here:

An update in the never-ending saga of Armond Armstead as he attempts to get medically cleared to play for the Trojans: his father, Guss, attended practice Wednesday and plans to meet with USC staffers this week to find a solution to what has become a full-fledged problem.

Armstead, of course, was hospitalized in March for unknown reasons but has not participated at full strength in any USC practices in the six months since. He and USC have both been very vague about the situation and nothing is known other than that Armstead and his family believe he's past due to be cleared and the USC medical staff disagrees.

Armstead already played three years for the Trojans and stood to get drafted fairly high in next year's NFL draft -- before this whole medical ordeal, of course. Now, his football future is in obvious jeopardy. He's missed the first two games of the 2011 season. There's no clear light at the end of the tunnel.

Enter his father, a basketball trainer in Sacramento. The elder Armstead's in L.A. this week, presumably to either convince USC to clear his son or find out why he won't be cleared. He talked to a number of USC administrators during Wednesday's practice, including athletic director Pat Haden and trainer Russ Romano. The younger Armstead wasn't in attendance.

There can't be much more wiggle room on this. Either Armstead is going to be cleared in the near future, or he's not. The season's over in fewer than 75 days.

Trojans coach Lane Kiffin hasn't said much on his Armstead's case ever, and he's said even less in recent weeks. He said on Sunday's conference call that he has not been involved in many of the discussions of late. On Wednesday, he said he'd be involved in a meeting with Armstead and his father in the near future.

"We have a meeting later this week, so right now that's where we are at," Kiffin said.

An under-examined part of this whole situation: Armstead's younger brother, Arik, is a high school senior currently committed to the Trojans to play both basketball and football. Arik Armstead is ranked by most recruiting services as one of the top prospects in the state of California and one of the top 25 seniors in the country.

Notes and quotes from Lane Kiffin's Sunday evening conference call after the Trojans' 23-14 win over Utah:

• Following up on the late-night fiasco that was the score change, Kiffin said he originally thought Torin Harris' field-goal-block return was ruled a touchdown on the field, then realized later that it wasn't. But he said he did not personally call for a change in the ruling or anything of that nature, although he said he was pleased to find out the official final score two hours after the game ended. "I’m sure it made a lot of Trojan fans happy to find that out two hours later," Kiffin said. "I hope they didn’t throw away their tickets." The coach did question what the officials would have done if the game was tied in the end-game situation and Utah went on to win it in overtime. He asked if the Pac-12 would reverse the outcome of the game after reviewing the final play in regulation in that hypothetical situation.

• Marc Tyler ran the ball 24 times for 113 yards but did not win himself the starting job for Week 3, Kiffin said. He did, however, admit that the running back situation is going to cause issues going forward, with Dillon Baxter looking for more playing time and Curtis McNeal also deserving but Kiffin unable to provide them the snaps. "This is just one of those situations that everybody can’t be happy," Kiffin said. "You can’t share the ball amongst four guys." Still, the four players are all listed as co-starters on the Trojans' official depth chart for the Syracuse game.

• The apparent miscommunication between Rhett Ellison and Matt Barkley on the Trojans' second-quarter interception may not have been a miscommunication after all. Kiffin took responsibility for the play and said he shouldn't have called it in that situation. "I kinda put it on myself," Kiffin said. "There was a little gray area there in the read. ... Put that one on me."

• The USC coaches still plan to play more guys, even though only four more got in Saturday for a total of 47 players. "I know I've been saying it," Kiffin said. "But we need to do a better job of it. We need to get some more guys in." Freshman linebacker Lamar Dawson, who logged two series but appeared to be pretty badly beaten on one play in that period, made his debut. Kiffin said safety T.J. McDonald and cornerback Nickell Robey each played 73 snaps in the game, which he called "too many."

• Kiffin did not have an update on the status of left guard Martin Coleman, who started Saturday's game but injured his shoulder early on and came out to be attended to by team doctors. He returned, sporting a shoulder brace but came out later on and was replaced by Jeremy Galten. For what it's worth, Galten is listed as the starter on the official depth chart released Sunday by USC.

• Final notes: Nothing more is known on defensive lineman Armond Armstead, who continues to wait to be medically cleared, a process that has taken six months now since he was originally hospitalized in March. ... Baxter did not meet privately with Kiffin on Sunday as he had the previous week, despite getting only one carry against the Utes.

Notes and quotes from Lane Kiffin's Sunday evening conference call, where he also disclosed that he had met earlier with running back Dillon Baxter and his family:

• A quick review of the Minnesota game: Kiffin said that in retrospect he feels a "little better" about the way the Trojans played against the Gophers. Robert Woods played a "great game," with "great energy all over the field." The strength of the defense was the defensive line, he said, and, overall, the defense actually played "very well for the majority of the game."

• 'Defensive' would be a good word to describe the way Kiffin addressed his decision to go for two twice in the first half Saturday. "We don’t just all the sudden make a decision one second before they happen," he said. "All that stuff is thought out well before. Those aren’t just split-second decisions. "In this case, the plan going in was, if we were the first ones to score and we had an advantage in our special-teams look, we were going to go for it." It was a bit of a different approach to how he talked about the two-point attempts in his press conference after Saturday's game, when he referenced the Trojans' 2010 statistics with the two-pointers and stuck to those.

• Three freshmen were supposed to play in Saturday's game but didn't get a chance to because the game was too close late, Kiffin said: linebacker Lamar Dawson, defensive tackle Christian Heyward and defensive end J.R. Tavai. The other freshmen are then presumably on a path to redshirt, including highly-touted receiver George Farmer and running back Amir Carlisle.

• The Trojans didn't suffer a single injury during the game. "It's pretty much unheard of," Kiffin said. "That’s obviously good, because you want to be 1-0 and you want to be healthy." Left guard Abe Markowitz is on track to practice this week and potentially play against Utah in six days.

• On the topic of Utah, Kiffin didn't reveal much of his initial analysis of the Utes' opener but did say he was happy to gameplan for a more traditional team he's more familiar with. "It is good to see a normal offense," he said. Of course, after Saturday's game Kiffin said his team would not beat Utah playing like they did against Minnesota.

• Kiffin said he did not have an update on the statuses of suspended running back Marc Tyler or defensive tackle Armond Armstead, who continues to sit out with an unspecified condition that forced him to be hospitalized in March. "As of right now, nothing has changed," Kiffin said of Tyler, who was originally suspended only for Week 1 but not given a specific reinstatement date. "We'll just keep evaluating it and we may have something here shortly.”

We're just about set to go at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum for the Trojans' 2011 season opener against Minnesota. Here are a couple of last-minute things worthy of an update before kickoff:

• As you can see in the photo above, the brand-new video board in the West End of the Coliseum is officially functioning, and it's very, very loud. Some stats on it: it's approximately 40 feet high and 150 feet long, reportedly ranking it the second-largest in the country at the college level. It's 792p and covers the distance of approximately 1,686 37-inch flat-panel TVs.

• An important on-field update: Redshirt freshman running back D.J. Morgan will get the start for the Trojans over Dillon Baxter and Curtis McNeal, and he'll also be wearing a new number. He's now No. 30 after wearing No. 34 for his first year-plus at USC. In other news, defensive lineman Armond Armstead has not been medically cleared and will not play.

• As expected, safeties graduate assistant Sammy Knight is taking control of the defensive backs in pre-game warmups in place of the resigned Willie Mack Garza. Knight played at USC from 1993-1996 and earned All-Pac-10 honors his senior year.

Join us here on the USC Report on ESPNLA.com at 12:30 p.m. PT as Arash Markazi, Mark Saxon and I will keep you updated throughout the game in Trojans Live!, a full-blown interactive chat.

Notes and quotes from Wednesday's practice that didn't make it into our other stories from the day:

• Cornerback Tony Burnett, defensive tackle DaJohn Harris and running back Marc Tyler left practice early for the second straight Wednesday. Evidently not all USC players were able to clear their schedules until 11 a.m., as Lane Kiffin said they'd need to in the spring.

• The only lingering temporary injuries are these: left guard Abe Markowitz (foot), receiver De'Von Flournoy (undisclosed) and running back Amir Carlisle (hamstring). All three are considered day-to-day and could be back shortly.

• The kickers and punters spent most of Wednesday's practice working on special-teams-specific activities at the Coliseum and arrived at Howard Jones Field with only a few minutes left in the session. On days like that, punter Kyle Negrete serves as Andre Heidari's holder, but Heidari expects quarterback Matt Barkley to fulfill those duties in game situations.

• The Trojans practiced in helmets and shorts Wednesday, and they'll do so again Thursday as they attempt to heal up in time for Minnesota. Because of the early start Sunday in preparing for this game week, Wednesday's session was a traditional Thursday practice, and USC treated it as such. And the real Thursday practice will also treated like Thursday.

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USC released its first official depth chart of the 2011 season Sunday night, complete with the legions of 'ors' that Lane Kiffin's charts have started to become known for with the Trojans. At some spots there are as many as four players listed as co-starters or second-stringers, including at tailback.

Here's a position-by-position analysis of the depth chart and what it means for Week 1 and beyond:

Quarterback

This is interesting. Instead of Cody Kessler backing up Matt Barkley here, as was expected, the Trojans listed walk-on John Manoogian as the second-stringer and Kessler and fellow freshman Max Wittek as co-walk-ons. It makes sense -- Kiffin said last week that the hope would be to redshirt both Kessler and Wittek and use Manoogian in blowout situations to hand the ball off and close out the game. The depth chart represents that desire. Jesse Scroggins is nowhere to be found.

Tailback

As assumed, there are a bunch of 'ors' here, although it is somewhat of a surprise to see freshman Amir Carlisle listed as an equal with all the returners. Whatever is going to be decided here between Carlisle, Curtis McNeal, Dillon Baxter and D.J. Morgan needs to be decided fairly soon.

Fullback

Rhett Ellison is the sole starter here and is not listed at any other position, so it's becoming safe to assume that the coaches are going to keep him at fullback and not move him to tight end, his original position. Soma Vainuku, the true freshman, didn't have a great fall camp, as evidenced by the fact that he's listed on the same level as walk-on Hunter Simmons.

Receiver

Marqise Lee is listed as the co-starter at flanker with Brandon Carswell, which is evidence plenty that the Trojans are planning to start him across from Robert Woods at some point this season, whether it's on Saturday in Week 1 or later on this year. He began camp as a split end and is being switched over for the purpose of adding to his potential playing time and not keeping him behind Woods. All of the other backup receivers are all listed as equals, which is a little different than what was expected but par for the course on this depth chart.

Tight end

Christian Thomas has basically been out all fall, but he still earns co-starter status along with the other two second-year tight ends. Xavier Grimble has been impressive in camp, and Randall Telfer has too -- but only for the last week or so. It seems like those two are going to split most of the time, with Ross Cumming maybe picking up extra snaps left over. Cumming, who converted from linebacker last week, isn't listed on the depth chart.

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