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USC receiver/trackster Marqise Lee qualified for next month's NCAA championships in the long jump with a personal-record jump of 25 feet, 5 1/2 inches in Thursday's NCAA Regionals held in Austin, Texas.

His mark was second in his flight and seventh among all jumpers. He entered into the competition ranked 20th in the region, meaning he placed well above his ranking.

Lee's career best entering into the 2012 track season was 24 feet, eight inches, so the month of track-specific training he's done since football ended last month has helped him improve significantly.

In other football/track news, running back/hurdler D.J. Morgan will run the 110-meter hurdles on Friday in Austin in an attempt to qualify for the NCAA championships, and linebacker/jumper Tony Burnett will do the triple jump. Notable sprinter Bryshon Nellum easily won his heat in the 400-meter and will compete in the quarterfinals Friday.

The NCAA championships are held in Des Moines, Iowa, from June 6-9.

Illinois running back Ty Isaac, one of the top backfield prospects in the country, committed to USC on Tuesday, giving the Trojans their sixth commitment of the 2013 recruiting season and arguably their most important.

Here's why: Isaac, ranked sixth at his position by ESPNU and 68th overall, is the first top-flight running back prospect to commit to the Trojans since D.J. Morgan in the class of 2010. Well, there was Amir Carlisle in 2011, but that ship has sailed.

Simply enough, USC direly needed a back in this class to provide some actual depth at the position once Curtis McNeal leaves. Actually, the Trojans needed two -- and they might get another later this week, when Northern California prospect Justin Davis makes his college announcement.

But Isaac's even better than the typical four-star prospect -- at least for USC -- because he's a legitimate big back, one who would ideally work in tandem with Morgan upon his arrival in Los Angeles. The Trojans tried to get one of those under the radar in Buck Allen in 2011 but realized this spring he's more of a standard-sized runner than anything else.

At 6-3 and 215 pounds in his junior year of high school in Joliet, Ill., Isaac is definitely a big back.

He becomes the third skill-position player to commit to the Trojans in the last six weeks. Highly-touted quarterback Max Browne (Sammamish, Wa./Skyline) committed last month as an early enrollee and receiver Eldridge Massington (Mesquite, Tex./West Mesquite) committed earlier this month.

Defensive end Kylie Fitts (Redlands, Calif./Redlands East Valley) and cornerback Chris Hawkins (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Rancho Cucamonga) also committed in April. Defensive tackle Kenny Bigelow (Elkton, Md./Eastern Christian) became the first member of the 2013 class when he committed last November.

Three USC football players participated in the Pac-12 track and field championships over the weekend in Eugene, Ore. -- and another high-profile Trojan trackster surprised in the Pacific Northwest with a comeback win.

Receiver Marqise Lee, running back D.J. Morgan and linebacker Tony Burnett collectively competed in the relay, hurdle and jump events for the Trojans, giving USC three of its 11 points-scoring participants.

Bryshon Nellum, the former Long Beach Poly sprinter who was shot in the leg near the USC campus in October 2008, came from behind to win the 400-meter sprint with a personal-best time of 45.20 seconds. To do it, he motored past reigning conference champion Mike Berry in the final stretch and improved on his previous best by nearly two tenths of a second.

Lee ran the first leg for USC's 4x100m relay team which finished in sixth. Oregon's De'Anthony Thomas and Oregon State's Malcolm Marable, both football players, also ran the race for their respective schools. Thomas ran anchor and led the Ducks to a second-place finish; Marable ran first like Lee and finished in eighth.

Lee also finished fourth in the long jump with a mark of just over 25 feet and one inch -- eight inches behind the winner. Lee's mark was better than the 24-8 best he posted in high school, which was the second-best mark among all high schoolers in 2011.

Morgan was the top USC hurdler, finishing fifth with a time of 14.21 in the 110-meter hurdle in his second competitive hurdle race since his junior season of high school at Woodland Hils Taft. He ran a 14.48 in the preliminary heat.

Burnett, who came to USC for track and then walked on to the football team and later earned a scholarship, finished 15th in the triple jump -- second among USC jumpers.

Overall, the USC men finished seventh and the women finished fourth.

USC football players Marqise Lee, Tony Burnett and Nickell Robey are all expected to compete in Sunday's dual track & field meet between USC and UCLA, an annual affair valued highly by both programs.

All three are competing in the long jump Burnett, a backup linebacker for the football Trojans, will take part in the triple jump; Robey and Lee are each expected to run segments of the 4x100m relay.

Earlier this year, the trio and fellow football/track participant D.J. Morgan ran the 4x100m as a foursome and challenged USC's normal combination. Morgan, a running back on the football team, is not expected to participate Sunday.

Among football players also competing in track & field events, Lee (long jump) and Burnett (triple jump) have each posted the top marks in their events among all divisions of the NCAA, according to stats compiled by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

Sunday's meet will be held at UCLA.

LOS ANGELES -- Matt Barkley didn't have a great day at the Coliseum for the USC Trojans' annual spring game on Saturday, but he did do a lot more than expected, based on the other scrimmages USC has played this spring.

Two weeks ago, he didn't even attempt a single pass. A week ago, he largely gave way to backups Cody Kessler and Max Wittek.

This time, the senior signal-caller completed 23-of-39 pass attempts for 212 yards, one touchdown and one interception in what was by far his most participated-in scrimmage of the spring. He threw three times as many passes as Kessler (3-of-6 for 68 yards) and Wittek (3-of-7 for 27) combined.

USC coach Lane Kiffin indicated the decision to use Barkley so much was based on two factors: 1. The Trojans weren't tackling, to keep injuries at a minimum; 2. They were getting some offensive weapons back healthy that hadn't been on the field for a scrimmage in weeks.

Tight end Xavier Grimble and receiver De'Von Flournoy were among the players who participated who hadn't suited up in recent weeks.

For the game, score was kept in an offense vs. defense fashion, with the Trojans' defensive players awarded three points for stops on drives and five points for turnovers. The defense won, 34-27, with the offense scoring three touchdowns and two field goals and the defense stopping eight drives and collecting two turnovers.

Barkley was asked after the scrimmage if he felt as if, at the end of the spring, the Trojans are a national-championship contending team.

"Not yet," Barkley said. "Not anywhere close to that yet. We still have a lot of work to do to get there. Based off talent, you might say that, but there's a lot more that goes into that than talent."

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Here are notes from Thursday's practice that won't make it into our other coverage from the session, the last official practice until August for the Trojans. Of course, USC scrimmages on Saturday at the Coliseum in the annual spring game, which starts at 1:30 p.m.

• Running back Buck Allen took the most snaps out of the backfield he has taken all spring and showed improvement as he returns from a strained right hamstring that bothered him for nearly a month. He, Curtis McNeal and D.J. Morgan are again the Trojans' only three scholarship running backs with Tre Madden now out for the year.

• Cornerback Brian Baucham continued his strong play toward the end of the spring with an interception on a tipped pass off a Max Wittek-to-Junior Pomee throw. Baucham has put himself into the competition for the third corner spot.

• Injury report: Receiver Victor Blackwell (foot) did not participate in practice but could return for Saturday's scrimmage, Lane Kiffin said. Kiffin also said cornerback Ryan Henderson could play Saturday. Receiver George Farmer (hamstring) did only individual work, as has been the case since the first week of the spring. It seems unlikely he will participate in the scrimmage portion of Saturday's session. Officially out for Saturday are tight end Randall Telfer (hamstring) and linebackers Dallas Kelley and Marquis Simmons.

• Among the recruits at practice were high-profile 2013 defensive tackle Kenny Bigelow, the first player to commit to the Trojans' next class, and 2015 quarterback David Sills, who was also there Tuesday. Signee Jabari Ruffin was also in attendance and spent some time with linebackers coach Scottie Hazelton after practice.

• Final notes: USC will not tackle in Saturday's scrimmage to preserve players' health over the offseason, Kiffin said. We'll have more on that on Friday. ... Tight end Christian Thomas underwent surgery this week on his ailing hip and is expected to be ready for fall camp. ...Defensive back Josh Shaw had his hardship waiver claim granted by the NCAA on Thursday and will be eligible to play for the Trojans in 2012. We'll have more on what that means for USC later.

LOS ANGELES -- Tre Madden is no longer the story of spring practice for the USC Trojans. The linebacker-turned-running-back who caught fire after moving to offense last month tore his left knee on Thursday and is out for the 2012 season.

Now, the story is who's going to replace him.

Redshirt freshman Buck Allen, one of the most unknown quantities on the Trojans' roster, started to make his case in Saturday's scrimmage at the Coliseum with the most extended time he has experienced this spring while bothered by a right hamstring pull. USC coach Lane Kiffin indicated he has been giving a lot of thought to other options to fill the big-back role Madden had quickly assumed behind starter Curtis McNeal.

And, it's a bit crazy, but Kiffin also called Madden "one of the most valuable guys on the team" because the Trojans "don't have anybody else like him."

It really was a fast rise and fall for Madden this spring. It still has been only 20 days since he found out from the coaching staff he was being moved to running back for experimental purposes and less than two weeks since Kiffin confirmed he was staying there long-term.

Madden has 226 pounds on his 6-foot frame. Allen, his natural replacement, is listed at 215 pounds -- so there's ground to make up there. And he also has been bothered by injuries on-and-off since his arrival on campus last August. But he's really the Trojans' best hope behind McNeal and speedy No. 2 back D.J. Morgan.

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As the spring progresses, one thing becomes clearer and clearer with this 2012 USC team: The Trojans' coaches have big plans for Tre Madden.

The sophomore linebacker-turned-running-back is going to be a big part of this squad. Lane Kiffin provided more evidence to that end on Saturday when he had Madden try out the Wildcat offense during USC's second scrimmage of the spring at the Coliseum.

Madden ran the Wildcat in high school at nearby Mission Viejo and has said since his move to running back last month that he'd love to try it out in college. He said the coaches told him they were impressed with what they saw from him in his brief Wildcat debut in scrimmage warmups.

Even if that doesn't work out, though, Madden looks like a for-sure part of USC's running back rotation. Right now, senior Curtis McNeal is the No. 1 back, having a solid spring after a surprisingly good fall. Sophomore D.J. Morgan is the only established backup, so the 6-foot, 226-pound Madden could easily nestle right in there as one part of a three-headed tandem.

Morgan can be the lightning and Madden can be the thunder and McNeal, having bulked up to 195 pounds on his 5-7 frame, can be a little bit of both. It makes sense.

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Here are some notes that didn't make it into our other coverage from Saturday's scrimmage, the Trojans' first visit to the Coliseum since last November's 50-0 win over UCLA:

• USC had only two scholarship receivers and tight ends available on the field Saturday because of injuries, so De'Von Flournoy and Victor Blackwell got plenty of chances to show off to the coaching staff. Coach Lane Kiffin indicated that Flournoy, now a redshirt junior, was more impressive than Blackwell. Walk-on fullback Hunter Simmons took most of the snaps at tight end with everyone else out.

• So the track Trojans got mixed up a little bit. Nickell Robey, Marqise Lee and Tony Burnett had all planned to participate in the Trojan Invitational track meet on campus, but only Lee and Burnett ended up doing it. Kiffin convinced Robey that he needed to practice special-teams skills, so the junior cornerback skipped his long-jumping event, which Lee actually won. Burnett did the long jump on campus and then tried to golf-cart over to the Coliseum so he could participate in the latter half of practice but was turned down because of NCAA regulations governing two-sport athletes.

• Defensive tackle George Uko was "dominant" on Saturday, according to Kiffin, wrapping up a big week for the redshirt sophomore. He found out two weeks ago Saturday that he had been demoted to the second team and since then he has been the best player in USC's front seven and arguably the best player on the Trojans' entire defense.

• Injury report: Tight ends Xavier Grimble (toe) and Randall Telfer (hamstring), quarterback Jesse Scroggins (hip), running back Buck Allen (hamstring), center Khaled Holmes (calf) and receiver George Farmer (hamstring) all missed practice, and linebacker Dion Bailey (hamstring) missed almost all of it. Fullback Soma Vainuku hurt his back in individual drills and missed all of the scrimmage portion of the day.

• Final notes: USC resumes practice on Tuesday at Howard Jones Field. ... As Kiffin said he would, Matt Barkley did limited work and backups Cody Kessler and Max Wittek took the majority of snaps. ... Robey, D.J. Morgan and Curtis McNeal all practiced punt returning during individual drills.

Lane Kiffin said just four days ago that he and his staff were going to need until Sunday to decide whether or not Tre Madden's move to running back would be short or long-term.

It turns out they didn't need as much time as they anticipated.

"He will be playing running back," Kiffin said with confidence on Saturday, minutes after Madden had just finished his third-straight impressive performance at the Coliseum in the Trojans' first spring scrimmage.

It's hard to argue with his logic. Madden, the 6-foot, 226-pound ex-linebacker with a size-speed combination that has long had running backs coach Kennedy Polamalu excited, has looked about as good as anyone could expect in his first week at a new position.

"I feel like this was a good call," Madden said Saturday.

What makes it such a good call and what makes him so good so soon? He can already catch the ball better than some USC backs who've spent a year or two in the system.

He had one play on Saturday where he wheeled out from the backfield and caught a pretty pass from Matt Barkley on the dead run so smoothly that it looked, for a second, as if it was freshman-year Robert Woods lining up out of the backfield or something. He had another where he ran off the left tackle from near midfield and rumbled down to the 10 as if it were nothing, dragging along a third of the second-team defense along with him.

Those two and several others had Kiffin using the word "natural" to describe Madden after the scrimmage.

"We're a lot better coaches when guys do things," Kiffin said. "You can teach two guys the same thing, but some guys just pick it up very naturally.

"He's one of those guys. To come over that quick and even be functional is saying a lot, let alone to keep performing like he is."

The 18-year-old Madden now has nine more practices this spring to continue to pick up things at his new position. But it looks tobe a safe bet already that he'll get carries out of the backfield this season, slotting in somewhere between first-stringer Curtis McNeal and last-stringer Buck Allen at this point.

Basically, it'll be between Madden and D.J. Morgan to be McNeal's No. 1 backup this fall, unless things change. But, then again, a week ago, Madden was Dion Bailey's backup at strongside linebacker.

So things do change.

When you get drafted, are your track skills going to get you a contract or your football skills?

Lane Kiffin asked cornerback Nickell Robey that very question this week, when the junior Robey was presented with a decision between track and football for his Saturday afternoon whereabouts. The Trojans' first big track meet of the season, taking place Saturday on campus, coincides with the USC's first scrimmage of the spring.

Robey, Marqise Lee, Tony Burnett and D.J. Morgan -- the football team's four track participants -- can only do one of the two events because of NCAA rules restricting student-athlete hours in a given week. Everybody but Morgan will do track.

Of course, Robey says Kiffin was joking about the football-track thing. And the head coach supported Robey, Lee and Burnett's decision to do track instead of football, even though the parties involved said it was tough to pick.

Burnett didn't realize until this week that he wouldn't be able to do both. Robey said it was a tough decision to make once he was given the choice of only one or the other.

"Should I ditch the track meet and do the scrimmage?" he said Thursday. "It was a thought that popped into my head."

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A few notes that won't make it into our other coverage from Thursday's session:

• USC coach Lane Kiffin spotlighted safety T.J. McDonald for his improved play in the second week of the spring and also said defensive tackle George Uko has practiced well aside from an effort slip-up during the Trojans' first scrimmage. We'll have more on Uko's situation on Friday.

• Cornerback Nickell Robey, receiver Marqise Lee and defensive back Tony Burnett will participate in Saturday's Trojan Invitational track meet instead of scrimmaging with the USC team at the Coliseum. Running back D.J. Morgan, the other football-track participant this spring, will scrimmage instead of sprint. We'll have more on the foursome and their decisions on Friday.

• Defensive back Josh Shaw, a Florida transfer, said he will not practice for the rest of spring with a rib injury he suffered with the Gators. He participated in winter workouts for the Trojans earlier this year but had the situation flare up over the last few weeks, he said. Shaw also still awaits ruling from the NCAA on whether or not he'll be able to play this season with a hardship waiver.

• Injury report: Outside of the four Trojans sidelined with hamstring injuries, tight end Xavier Grimble (toe) and center Khaled Holmes (calf) also sat out of practice. Linebacker Marquis Simmons (shoulder) was very limited and quarterback Jesse Scroggins was limited with a hip injury. Safety Drew McAllister, who left Tuesday's practice early with a hand injury, practiced with a cast on his hand.

• Final notes: USC will scrimmage at 11 a.m. on Saturday in the Coliseum, the first time the Trojans will go back to the stadium as a team since November's 50-0 season-ending win over UCLA...Kiffin said quarterback Matt Barkley "won't play a lot" in the scrimmage, giving way primarily to backup candidates Cody Kessler and Max Wittek...Tight end Junior Pomee missed his second consecutive practice with a death in the family but could be back for Saturday's scrimmage.

LOS ANGELES -- USC might have a fourth running back after all.

Sophomore linebacker Tre Madden has been moved to running back for at least the next week in what the Trojans are calling an experimental move designed to use the spring session to see if Madden is a good fit for the position.

The 6-foot, 226-pound played wildcat quarterback in high school for nearby Mission Viejo but was recruited by most schools as a linebacker. He started one game for the Trojans in November and starred on special teams throughout his freshman season.

But with no starting spots open at linebacker and depth at a premium at running back, Lane Kiffin called Madden into his office on Sunday to see if he was up for the move.

"We’re just trying it out for this week, seeing how it fits the team," Madden said midway through Tuesday's practice, which he left an hour early for class. "If it doesn’t work out, I’ll go back on D.

"It seems like it’s going to work. But we’re just trying it out for this week, so we don’t know."

So, how did the limited tryout go? Running backs coach Kennedy Polamalu, in a jovial mood following practice, had plenty of good things to say about Madden's first day.

"I don't want to get way ahead of myself, but it was a very good start," Polamalu said.

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Notes from Saturday's practice and scrimmage that couldn't fit into our other coverage off the session:

• USC coach Lane Kiffin said the defense dominated the day on Saturday, and it was clear. The Trojans' offense scored just two touchdowns on 56 total plays in 11-on-11 scrimmaging, with those two scores coming from Marqise Lee and De'Von Flournoy.

• Backup quarterback Jesse Scroggins spent almost the entire practice doing rollovers on the field. Kiffin said he "missed something" earlier in the week. Scroggins has made almost no progress this spring and is already falling behind Max Wittek and Cody Kessler in the race to back up Matt Barkley.

• Injury report: Receiver Robert Woods (ankle) is still out, as is fellow pass-catcher George Farmer (hamstring) and several other players who are out for the entire spring. New injuries Saturday included hamstring pulls for running back Buck Allen and linebacker Dion Bailey, as well as a calf strain for center Khaled Holmes, which pushed Abe Markowitz into the first-string lineup.

• Big hits were provided by linebacker Tre Madden on running back D.J. Morgan, cornerback Isiah Wiley on running back Curtis McNeal and fullback Soma Vainuku on defensive end Morgan Breslin. Madden's was probably the biggest of the day -- or at least the loudest. Morgan held onto the ball; McNeal didn't.

• Defensive end Wes Horton had an impressive interception on a ball that appeared to be tipped by defensive tackle George Uko. Cornerback Nickell Robey earned MVP honors from Kiffin after forcing a fumble from Morgan on the final play of 11-on-11 scrimmaging.

• Final notes: 2012 signee Jabari Ruffin (Downey, Calif./Downey) was in attendance at practice along with a number of 2013 signees. ... There were more family members, recruits and media in attendance than had been at Howard Jones Field in at least two years. ... Greg Townsend Jr. continued to work at defensive tackle and looked more comfortable Saturday than the first two practices.

What did Kennedy Polamalu, USC's second-year running backs coach, think about how his players performed Thursday, the second day of 2012 spring practice?

"Hey, we got through another practice," Polamalu said. "I'm happy about that. We got through another practice and we didn't have to throw anyone back there that didn't know what they were doing, so I'm happy."

It's not that Polamalu's expectations are lowered. He just has to be very, very careful about keeping his guys healthy. Polamalu has only three scholarship tailbacks with whom to work this spring and few reinforcements are coming in the fall.

It'll be Curtis McNeal, D.J. Morgan and Buck Allen carrying the ball for the Trojans. That's it. Soma Vainuku might get a few carries, but he's a fullback, not a tailback, and incoming recruit Jahleel Pinner's much of the same. Nelson Agholor might get some time there in the fall, but no one else is even a possibility.

"Yeah, that's very scary for us," Trojans coach Lane Kiffin said this week. "We have so little experience and numbers there in general and really nothing coming to help that very much."

The good thing: Talent isn't an issue. Morgan started USC's season opener last year over McNeal, Marc Tyler, Dillon Baxter and Amir Carlisle. McNeal himself ended up surpassing 1,000 yards on the season and has inherited the starting spot. Allen's an unknown but has shown serious potential.

"I believe we have the talent," Polamalu said.

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