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Josh Shaw can play for the USC Trojans in 2012, the NCAA ruled on Thursday.

Actually, more appropriately: Josh Shaw will play for the USC Trojans in 2012.

He's that good. If he's healthy, which he hasn't been this spring, the Florida transfer will likely challenge for a starting spot with this year's squad and will be a virtual lock to get significant playing time in the secondary.

It's conceivable he could succeed Jawanza Starling as the starting strong safety, where he'd also have to fend off junior Demetrius Wright. It's also possible he could beat out Isiah Wiley for the second cornerback spot or slot in right behind him as the nickel back.

Regardless of where exactly he fits in, Shaw, who has been bothered by back and rib injuries in the spring and has not practiced, is going to provide a good amount of defensive back depth. With him, Wright, incoming junior-college signee Gerald Bowman and the four incumbent starters, USC is going to have seven playmaker-caliber upperclassmen in the secondary -- enough to pretty much play every snap if everyone stays healthy.

Add in talented-but-injury-prone players like Anthony Brown, Brian Baucham, Torin Harris and Drew McAllister, and the Trojans actually have a lot of people there. There shouldn't be any situations like last year, when USC was literally down to two corners at times and struggling to play the packages it wanted.

Then there's Shaw's experience level. He played for Florida for a full season last year, not starting but participating as a key backup. It has been a while since the Trojans have brought in someone with legitimate SEC experience onto their squad.

Coach Lane Kiffin was asked after Thursday's practice if Shaw could come in and start right away for USC -- or at least play significant snaps in a rotation.

"Sure he could," Kiffin said. "He's somebody that already played down in the SEC and has all the right tools.

"We've seen him run around and move around before he got hurt and so it'll be great. Not just on defense but obviously special teams."

He'll be a player to watch over the summer and in fall camp beginning in August.

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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Notes off Thursday's practice that won't make into our other coverage off the session:

• USC coach Lane Kiffin seems pleased with his offensive line, which has taken shape this spring with Aundrey Walker manning the left tackle spot and Marcus Martin, Khaled Holmes, John Martinez and Kevin Graf slotting next to him in order. We'll have more on Walker's status later Thursday.

• Injury report: Tight end Randall Telfer (hamstring) returned to practice before re-aggravating the hamstring. Safety Drew McAllister (hip), running back Buck Allen (hamstring) and tight end Junior Pomee (foot) missed practice with their respective injuries. Linebacker Marquis Simmons (undisclosed) exited practice early and receiver De'Von Flournoy (undisclosed) was limited. Quarterback Max Wittek (foot) didn't participate in the 11-on-11 drills but is expected to be ready to go for Saturday's scrimmage.

• In more positive news, tight end Xavier Grimble returned to practice for the first time in a month. He hurt his toe during the Trojans' first Tuesday practice of the spring and had been rehabbing it since. His presence gave the Trojans their first healthy tight end for a full practice in weeks.

• Receiver Marqise Lee got into a bit of a shoving match with some of his defensive teammates following a route. He minimized the incident after the practice, saying he did it to raise the energy level of the practice. "You know how teams are," Lee said. "We were going after it and got a little bit too hyped and started pushing each other."

• Quarterback Cody Kessler threw his first interception of the spring to linebacker Tony Burnett. We'll have more on this Friday, including Kessler's reaction to breaking up his no-hitter, as the Trojans' coaches were calling it.

• Final notes: Saturday's 11 a.m. scrimmage at the Coliseum is open to the public, as previously reported. ...Matt Barkley was picked off by cornerback Isiah Wiley for his eighth interception of the spring. ...Several Marines from the Wounded Warriors West Battalion at Camp Pendleton visited practice and spoke to Kiffin, Barkley and Holmes afterward.

Here are notes from Tuesday's practice that won't make it into our other posts off the session:

• The MVP of the day, coach Lane Kiffin said, was junior safety Demetrius Wright, who took the place of Jawanza Starling at first-team strong safety after lighting up the special-teams portion of practice. Wright has backed up Starling for much of the last two seasons.

• Starling, in turn, produced the play of day when he knocked back Victor Blackwell after the receiver caught a pass thrown to the middle of the field. Blackwell got sandwiched between Starling and corner Anthony Brown, really, but Starling provided the big hit.

• Strongside linebacker Dion Bailey missed practice after undergoing dental work earlier Tuesday, but he watched from the sideline. Senior Tony Burnett has been switched to linebacker from safety and took Bailey's place with the first-team defense in scrimmage drills. We'll have more on Burnett's move later in the week.

• Injury report: A few once-injured players returned to practice, including center Khaled Holmes (calf), cornerback Ryan Henderson (concussion) and fullback Soma Vainuku (back). But receiver George Farmer (hamstring) and tight ends Xavier Grimble (toe), Randall Telfer (hamstring) and Junior Pomee (foot) all stayed out, with Farmer doing individual work at the start of practice, Grimble and Telfer doing rehab activities and Pomee sitting out altogether.

• Kiffin said Pomee's right foot injury is not a re-break of the same foot he broke last August, but he said the doctors have not figured out anything else on it. Pomee, a redshirt freshman, underwent more tests Tuesday.

• Senior safety Drew McAllister was the only player to come out of practice with an injury, having complained of hip pain midway through practice. McAllister has been bothered by other nagging injuries this spring and has had serious hip problems in the past, including an injury that forced him to miss 2010 spring practice and most of the regular season.

• Final notes: Former USC receivers Patrick Turner and Damian Williams visited campus and participated in the individual portion of practice, which Kiffin said helped give the Trojans' quarterbacks more targets to throw to with so many pass-catchers sidelined. ... Sophomore J.R. Tavai worked at three-technique tackle for the first time this spring, with Kiffin saying that redshirt freshman Antwaun Woods has shown continued improvement at nose tackle. Tavai could back up both tackle spots. ... Sophomore Aundrey Walker continued to work as the left tackle with junior Kevin Graf staying on the right side.

Notes from Saturday's scrimmage at the Coliseum that won't make it into our other coverage off the session:

• Quarterback Matt Barkley did not participate in the scrimmage portion of practice, giving way to backups Cody Kessler and Max Wittek. Wittek started off as the No. 1 signal-caller before the two switched at the half. We'll have more on the race to back up Barkley on Sunday.

• Defensive line coach Ed Orgeron said there are four players battling to be the third and fourth ends behind Devon Kennard and Wes Horton this season, and none of them have stepped up considerably ahead thus far. He also said Greg Townsend Jr. will no longer practice inside at tackle after he spent the first couple weeks of practice learning the new position. We'll have more on this Monday, along with an update on the running back situation with Curtis McNeal and Tre Madden.

• Injury report: Safety Drew McAllister (leg) returned after missing the latter half of Thursday's practice. Aside from that, nothing changed from Thursday's injury situation, although Kiffin did say center Khaled Holmes (calf) and fullback Soma Vainuku (back) could return Tuesday. Receiver George Farmer (hamstring) did mostly special-teams work, marking the eighth straight practice he has now missed because of the hamstring pull. Running back Buck Allen (hamstring) ran on the sideline for most of practice.

• The lone new injury: Receiver Victor Blackwell hurt his hand and his knee during practice and sat out for some of the day. Kiffin said both were "nothing big." Blackwell's absence meant walk-ons had to take on an even bigger role with only one scholarship pass-catcher available in De'Von Flournoy.

• Cornerback Torin Harris (shoulder) continues to miss practice while rehabbing and working out on the sideline. He has been out since the middle of last season after undergoing surgery to repair a torn labrum in the shoulder,"It was positive that he was getting better," Kiffin said. "He should be ready by camp."

• Freshman defensive end DeVante Wilson and redshirt freshman tight end Junior Pomee spent the scrimmage doing rollovers and sit-ups on the sidelines after arriving late to a 9 a.m. morning meeting, Kiffin said.

• Final notes: Receiver Marqise Lee missed the scrimmage to participate in the long jump at the Texas Relays in Austin. He finished 10th. ... An estimated 800 or 900 fans were in attendance at the Coliseum for the open scrimmage, with a couple hundred leaving once it started to rain two-thirds of the way through. ... A number of top recruits were also at the Coliseum, which we'll have more on later.

Here are notes from Thursday's practice that won't make it into our other coverage from the day's session,

• Receiver De'Von Flournoy had the day's prettiest plays on a big ball from Matt Barkley and other throws from Max Wittek and Cody Kessler. The redshirt junior continues to take advantage of the absence of Robert Woods and George Farmer in practice.

• Barkley was picked off on an ill-advised throw over the middle of the field by safety Demetrius Wright, which Lane Kiffin said was his seventh interception of the spring. We'll have more on this later.

• Sophomore Aundrey Walker practiced at left tackle for the fifth straight practice and kept Kevin Graf on the right side. Walker has looked better on the left than he did on the right in the first three practices of the spring.

• Injury report: Farmer (hamstring), cornerback Ryan Henderson (concussion), center Khaled Holmes (calf), running back Buck Allen (hamstring), fullback Soma Vainuku (back) and tight ends Xavier Grimble (toe) and Randall Telfer (hamstring) all missed practice. Tight end Junior Pomee missed the latter half of practice with a right foot injury, which we'll have more on later, and safety Drew McAllister also exited early with a leg issue.

• Linebacker Dion Bailey participated fully in practice after making a partial return on Tuesday from the hamstring injury that bothered him last week. He did all of the team drills and the post-practice running but lagged a bit behind in the running. Cornerback Torin Harris (shoulder) participated in limited individual work but rehabbed during team drills, as he has typically done this spring.

• Final notes: USC's Saturday scrimmage is open to the public beginning at 11 a.m. and free. Parking is $10. ... Five-star Class of 2013 quarterback Max Browne, who holds a scholarship offer from USC, was in attendance at practice and will also be at the Trojans' scrimmage. ... Defensive back Tony Burnett missed practice because he is in Texas to compete in the triple jump with the track & field team.

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.

A few notes from Tuesday's practice that won't make it into our other posts from the session:

• Offensive tackles Kevin Graf and Aundrey Walker switched sides, with Walker working on the left and Graf working on the right for the first time this spring. For the first week, Graf stayed on the left and Walker stayed on the right, but Trojans coach Lane Kiffin said he felt it was time to try out the other way. We'll have more on this move Wednesday.

• Injury updates: Center Khaled Holmes (calf), tight end Xavier Grimble (toe), running back Buck Allen (hamstring) and receiver George Farmer again missed practice after all missing the Saturday session before the break. We'll have more on Farmer later Tuesday.

• Defensive back Josh Shaw (rib), a transfer from Florida, has not yet practiced this spring as he awaits word from the NCAA on his request for a hardship waiver to play this season, but Kiffin said the reason he's staying off the field is the rib injury, not his status with the NCAA.

• Two players also went down with injuries during practice and were due to undergo tests afterward: safety Drew McAllister and linebacker Marquis Simmons. Simmons, who has had neck issues in the past, stood on the sideline with ice on shoulder for the second half of practice; McAllister hurt his hand and did not return.

• Players who impressed Kiffin over the first week of practice after he re-watched the film over the break: defensive tackle George Uko, receivers Marqise Lee and Farmer, linebacker Hayes Pullard and cornerbacks Isiah Wiley and Brian Baucham.

• Final notes: Kiffin said the Trojans had no off-field issues over the spring break, as far as he knew. The team took a week off before returning to meetings and conditioning on Monday...Tight end Junior Pomee missed practice because of a death in the family, Kiffin said...Lee and cornerbacks Nickell Robey and Tony Burnett are expected to participate in USC's Trojan Invitational track meet on Saturday morning before going to the Coliseum for the Trojans' 11 a.m. scrimmage.

We’re doing position previews in the weeks leading up to spring practice, breaking down one group’s depth chart each day, paying special attention to things that can change in the spring.

We’ve looked at the quarterbacks, running backs, receivers, tight ends, offensive linemen, defensive linemen, linebackers and cornerbacks so far. Today, we analyze the safeties.

T.J. McDonald will start at one safety spot for the USC Trojans in 2012. Will Jawanza Starling?

Most likely. The two players, seniors-to-be both, have essentially held down their respective starting positions for the last two years. Starling had a rough final stretch of the 2010 season but rebounded to be a steady presence throughout 2011.

But, based strictly on personnel, Starling is due to get some intense competition for his spot. Drew McAllister is going to be a senior; Demetrius Wright will be a junior.

Josh Shaw, a Florida transfer, is clearly starter-caliber as a defensive back. It's just a matter of (1) whether he'll be eligible in 2012 and (2) whether he'll play corner or safety. And Gerald Bowman was probably good enough to start in the Pac-12 last season while he was a ju-co player.

New defensive backs coach Marvin Sanders is going to have to give all these guys at least a shot at unseating Starling, but it's going to be interesting to see how it's approached.

The safety position is also a perfect example of a bigger question surrounding the Trojans. In general, what time of approach are they going to take to this year's spring practice? Is it going to be treated strictly as a venue for young players to get better, or is a big focus going to be placed on the position with new coaches getting acclimated to a new style?

Will players like McDonald and Starling get a lot of rest so that Sanders can see as much of Wright and Shaw as possible?

USC did do some of that last spring when linebacker Chris Galippo sat out the entire month to keep his back healthy, but that arguably ended up hurting him when he lost his starting spot in November. There's definitely a benefit to sitting out some of the spring as a returning starter (or at least taking it easy), but it's also a cost that has to be weighed in contrast.

McDonald's a perfect example of a rest candidate.

Check back Monday for the special-teamers and our final spring-practice preview before it officially starts Tuesday.

After concluding our series on the top 10 moments of USC's 2011 football season, we begin this week with a brand-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. Here's No. 9: defensive tackle Christian Tupou.

Let's get this out of the way, first off. As we mentioned in Monday's series-starting post, this isn't a straight-up list of USC's 10 best players.

It's a list of the most valuable players, meaning it adds in what the team would look like and how it would do without the given player in the lineup. That's why McDonald came in lower than some might expect -- the Trojans' defense didn't have any issues when Drew McAllister subbed in for him in the first half of the Colorado game.

Now, about Tupou, it's hard to overstate the impact he had on USC's season. Of the four spheres of football -- passing and rushing offense and passing and rushing defense -- the Trojans' second-best was their run defense, after the passing game of course.

The player absolutely most responsible for that success -- and improvement from the previous season -- is Tupou. The senior nose tackle was instrumental on the defensive line, providing about the steadiest-possible influence in stopping the run and clogging up blockers to enable pass rush.

His statistics weren't flashy. Actually, they were downright terrible -- the guy had eight solo tackles and 16 total tackles in 12 starts this season and didn't record a single sack, tackle for loss or pass defensed.

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Notes and quotes from Trojans head coach Lane Kiffin's conference call Sunday looking back at USC’s 38-35 win over Oregon in Eugene and looking forward to the season-ending matchup against UCLA:

• Kiffin had mostly positive things to say about his team's victory, as to be expected, but he did harp on one part of the game as an area for improvement in the coming years: the fourth quarter. He was displeased with how USC allowed the Ducks to score 21 straight points beginning with De'Anthony Thomas' kickoff return for a touchdown late in the third. "That was shades of last year, what we were doing offensively there," he said. But he ultimately concluded that it was sort of par for the course when dealing with coach Chip Kelly and Oregon. "Any time that you end the nation's longest home winning streak, it's tough to complain," Kiffin said.

• On the topic of Kelly, Kiffin said the Ducks' head coach was "very classy" to come into the USC locker room following the game and congratulate USC assistant coach Monte Kiffin. The two didn't meet on the field in the postgame aftermath because the Trojans' defensive playcaller operates in the upstairs coaches' box during the game.

• Kiffin was proud of his team for not getting caught up in the hype of having NBA stars LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Co. in attendance. Oregon hosted the players on their sideline during the game in what bore multiple similarities to USC and the Pete Carroll era -- as a couple of USC players pointed out after the game -- but the Trojans weren't negatively distracted in any way. "I think it was great for us, really,” Kiffin said.

• After subtly calling quarterback Matt Barkley a Heisman Trophy candidate in his postgame news conference Saturday, Kiffin expanded more on that topic Sunday, saying the third-year signal-caller should certainly finish in the top-5 of the voting come the end of the regular season. "If you look at the way he's played in big games and you don't vote based off sanctions and probations and dark clouds, I don't know how he's not in New York," Kiffin said. "If anything, it should help him, that he's had all this stuff around him, and he's still succeeded."

• After shying away from commenting on ranking-related questions all season long, Kiffin has started to perk up about the Associated Press poll of late. Last week he called out a voter from Tennessee for leaving the Trojans out of the top 25 when they were ranked 18th nationally; Sunday he said he didn't understand why USC was one spot behind Oregon (10th to 9th) despite beating them the night before the latest ranking was released. "The polls are confusing to me," Kiffin said. "You would think if you beat someone 24 hours ago at their place, you'd be ahead of them."

• Asked about a questionable first-half intentional grounding call on Barkley, Kiffin first said he didn't want to be fined "$10,000 more," then carefully commented while trying to avoid directly criticizing the Pac-12 officiating. "I'm not [being] negative," he said. "I'm just saying I've never seen that at any level of football...Have you?"

• Injury updates: Several players got hurt during Saturday's game, but Kiffin said he didn't think anyone would be held out of Saturday's UCLA game based on weekend injuries. Among those who came out for a time were linebackers Dion Bailey (ankle) and Lamar Dawson (ankle), fullback/tight end Rhett Ellison and fullback Ross Cumming, defensive tackle Christian Tupou and safety Drew McAllister.

• Amid reports and rumors that UCLA will break out alternate all-white jerseys for Saturday's game, Kiffin said the Trojans would be sporting their traditional home uniforms at the Coliseum. "I don't really care what they wear," he said.

Four USC Trojans -- quarterback Matt Barkley, center Khaled Holmes, defensive end Devon Kennard and safety Drew McAllister were named to the Pac-12's annual All-Academic team on Thursday, earning second-team honors.

Barkley and Holmes were each listed as having 3.22 GPAs in USC's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, although Holmes has already begun work on his master's degree in communication management in his fourth year at the school. Kennard has a 3.20 GPA, also in communication.

McAllister, a backup safety who has started one game for the Trojans this season, has a 3.12 GPA as a public policy major.

USC had two other players who made honorable mention: walk-on punter Kyle Negrete and walk-on safety Cody Romness.

No Trojans earned first-team honors, meaning USC and Arizona State were the only two schools to not have at least one first-team honoree.

Stanford's Andrew Luck topped the list at quarterback with a 3.48 in architectural design. The top GPA recorded by a Pac-12 player was Arizona kicker John Bonano's 3.90 in physiology.

Notes and quotes from Trojans head coach Lane Kiffin's conference call Saturday looking back at USC’s 42-17 win over Colorado in Boulder and looking forward to the upcoming matchup against Washington:

• USC didn't experience a letdown against Colorado -- maybe for about five minutes early on -- but Kiffin is cognizant of the tendency to overvalue a big win against a not-so-good team. With Washington looming, the Trojans have to take many of the same principles they employed against the Buffaloes and bring them into Saturday's game at the Coliseum. "The point is to take it one game at a time," Kiffin said. "In general, we'd love to finish strong, but we are a very young team."

• Quarterback Matt Barkley's record-breaking performance against the Buffaloes was tarnished only by his second-quarter interception that led to Colorado's only field goal of the game. But Kiffin said the pick was due to an error in route-running by freshman receiver Marqise Lee, confirming Barkley's comments after the game. Barkley finished with six touchdown passes on 25-of-39 passing for 318 yards.

• The decision to start freshman Lamar Dawson over senior Chris Galippo was made well in advance of Friday's game, although the Trojans didn't make any announcements about it during the week. "I talked to Chris Sunday or Monday," Kiffin said of breaking the news. "It's happened to him before here. He's got two choices, I told him. He can practice his tail off and prove us wrong or he could sit around and pout. And he had a great week of practice and came in and made a lot of plays on the field."

• And Dawson didn't disappoint Kiffin, proving that he deserves to keep his new starting spot for Saturday's Washington game and probably beyond. "I thought Lamar did well for his first start in there," Kiffin said. "He'll be the starter this week, but we'll continue to evaluate it, though. We're still playing Chris." Galippo played more on special teams against the Buffaloes than he has in other games this season, Kiffin said, which the coach attributed to more rest on the defensive side of the ball.

• Safety T.J. McDonald missed the first half because of a Pac-12 mandated suspension and then played cautiously in the second half. He was suspended, of course, for his hit on Stanford's Chris Owusu in the fourth quarter of the triple-overtime loss last week. "I think that’s affecting him,” Kiffin said. “He probably won’t admit it, though.” Meaning, McDonald continues to look for ways to hit hard yet not get called for further penalties.

• About McDonald, Kiffin said it was his decision to keep the junior safety in sweats during normal pregame warmups and have him retreat to the locker room early in the second quarter to begin warming up on his own. "That was my idea," Kiffin said. "I didn't want T.J. to get all warmed up and basically sit for two hours, especially with the weather." The coach also praised Drew McAllister for his heady play in McDonald's absence early on.

• Running back Amir Carlisle may have had the biggest break-out game of any of the young players who had big opportunities against the Buffs, scoring his first career touchdown and accumulating 121 yards from scrimmage. And he could do even better soon. "Amir did really well," Kiffin said. "He's not 100 percent, and that's what's really exciting about him. It's a good thing to see him play that well and play that physical knowing that he's probably about 80 percent."

• Injury updates: Both tight end/fullback Rhett Ellison (knee) and running back Curtis McNeal (thigh) were cleared to play in the second half of Friday's game, Kiffin said. USC chose to keep them on the sidelines because the outcome wasn't in doubt.

BOULDER, Co. -- We're just about set to go here at Folsom Field for the Trojans' 6 p.m. PT game against Colorado. Here are a couple of last-minute things worthy of an update before kickoff:

• An hour before kickoff, it's 45 degrees in Boulder, with temperatures expected to hover around that same number throughout the game. There's also a 10 percent chance of precipitation. Folsom Field is 5,334 above sea level -- the third-highest stadium in the country after Air Force and Wyoming. Expect kickoffs -- and field goals -- to travel significantly further than in Los Angeles.

• Starting for the first time in their college careers tonight are running back Curtis McNeal, tight end Randall Telfer and linebackers Tre Madden and Lamar Dawson. Safeties Drew McAllister and Marshall Jones are also starting their first games of the 2011 season. McNeal has moved past Marc Tyler on the running back depth chart, Telfer and fellow freshman Xavier Grimble have essentially been used interchangeably this year and Madden and Dawson are starting to accommodate the injury to Dion Bailey, meaning USC will start three freshmen at linebacker.

• About the linebackers, middle linebacker Chris Galippo, the typical starter, is expected to rotate between the middle and strongside to provide support for Madden and Dawson. Madden hasn't played much on defense this year, although he did sub in for Bailey in the second overtime last week against Stanford. Dawson has been Galippo's steady No. 2 while healthy this year.

• Bailey didn't make the trip to Boulder; neither did freshman running back George Farmer. Tyler, who has a dislocated shoulder, dressed with the team and did all of the pregame warmups. T.J. McDonald, on the other hand, was in sweats during warmups and did not do any of the drills with the rest of the team.

• Receiver Paul Richardson and running back Rodney Stewart are suited up for Colorado, as expected. Buffaloes coach Jon Embree said this week that both players would play against the Trojans. The two have combined for 46 percent of Colorado's yards from scrimmage this year despite missing six games between the two of them.

Drew McAllister is going to start Friday at free safety for the suspended T.J. McDonald.

That much we know for sure.

But the Trojans could be starting two new safeties against Colorado, as starting strong safety Jawanza Starling has missed both practices this week because of an unspecified injury. Senior Marshall Jones has been practicing in that spot and figures to get the start there if Starling isn't ready to come Friday.

"Very easily that could be the case, with Jawanza having not practiced today and obviously the league deciding T.J can't play," Trojans coach Lane Kiffin said Wednesday.

McAllister has started one previous game at USC, a September 2009 loss to Washington. Jones has started four, the final four of last season when Starling was hurt. Both have been second-stringers throughout spring practice and fall camp this season, so this would represent quite the opportunity.

"They're good stories when things like this happen, when guys that have played a bunch before, get another shot," Kiffin said, comparing their situations to other veteran players who have subbed in for injured players in the past. "We've had guys really step up in those situations, like a year ago when Chris Galippo came in a backup role for Devon Kennard and started playing better actually, a year ago.

"And so hopefully this will be one of those cases."

McAllister, Kiffin pointed out Tuesday, has consistently made more interceptions in practice than anybody else in USC's secondary. He'll get his first legitimate chance to prove he can do that as a starter on Friday in what could end up being an audition for next season's starting job.

McDonald could leave for the NFL. If he does, McAllister, who'll be a senior, makes sense as the starter. But there's other options that make sense, too.

McAllister gets a half to show that he should be the No. 1 choice.