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We wrote in April about Matt Barkley and his family's plans to bring several USC Trojans with them to Haiti this summer for a house-building trip in the earthquake-torn Caribbean country.

Those plans are ongoing, and the trip is nearing. Here's the updated list of players going and a brief itinerary of what the group will do in Haiti this month with Hope Force International.

The full list of participants includes Barkley, T.J. McDonald, Devon Kennard, Dion Bailey, Robert Woods, Khaled Holmes, Nickell Robey, Hayes Pullard, Kyle Negrete, Scott Starr, Josh Shaw, Cyrus Hobbi, Kevin Greene, Max Wittek, Cody Kessler and Luke Freeman.

The 14 players who originally planned to go are all still going, and McDonald and Bailey joined the group later. Barkley's parents and siblings are also attending.

They will leave at midnight on May 12th, so late this Friday night, meaning a few of the players walking in Friday's commencement ceremony will essentially be going straight from school to the foreign country. They return a week from today, on the 16th.

They're staying in the beachside town of Leogane, 20 miles west of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince. Leogane was at the epicenter of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti and had 80 to 90 percent of its buildings damaged.

The plan is to build four houses for four family in the small village of Sous Savanne and to visit an orphanage and school there and help out too.

USC released its annual end-of-spring depth chart last week, which we posted mostly without comment at the time. Here, now, is our position-by-position analysis of what Lane Kiffin and Co. released, with an eye on what it means for the 2012 Trojans.

Quarterback

This was exactly as expected, with Matt Barkley entrenched and Cody Kessler and Max Wittek continuing to compete behind him. It is noteworthy that Jesse Scroggins is listed a spot behind the two redshirt freshmen and not tied with them, but it'd be a little unfair for him to be anywhere else. He missed most of the spring with hip issues and is still in academic jeopardy.

Running back

Where would Tre Madden have been if he wasn't out for the 2012 season? That's the question this portion of the chart begs. Curtis McNeal would still be starting, but Madden could very well be vying with D.J. Morgan for that No. 2 spot. Javorious Allen will be the third-string back unless he gets beat out by an incoming freshman.

Fullback

Soma Vainuku is locked in as the starter with no pressing competition, but he had himself a nice conclusion to the spring anyway, giving the coaching staff more confidence in him going into the summer. Jahleel Pinner will be somewhat of an unknown.

Receiver

De'Von Flournoy jumped in front of Victor Blackwell with an impressive spring, and has now put himself into position to challenge George Farmer for third-receiver status in the fall. And if Farmer can't stay healthy (again), then Flournoy's suddenly the favorite to line up with Robert Woods and Marqise Lee.

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LOS ANGELES -- Cody Kessler and Max Wittek are ending spring practice exactly the way they started it -- deadlocked in a battle to back up Matt Barkley in 2012 and potentially start for the Trojans next season.

USC coach Lane Kiffin had concise but entirely unrevealing answers when asked about the two redshirt freshmen after Saturday's spring game.

Did he feel any closer to naming a backup QB than he did a month or so ago? "No," he said. Was there any separation created between the two over the five weeks of spring practice? "No," he said.

But both Kessler and Wittek did have good springs, even if it didn't seem like it so much Saturday at the Coliseum, with Wittek twice overthrowing his receivers in the first half and Kessler being picked before that by safety Drew McAllister.

Kiffin said Wittek appeared more confident on Saturday than at any other point while wearing a USC uniform. And he has consistently praised Kessler's poise.

He did note, interestingly, that both players showed early adverse effects from the energy in the Coliseum with 15 thousand fans in attendance. He also attributed some of the mistakes to the wind in the stadium -- with swirls pushing consistently over 10 miles an hour and appearing to affect the trajectory of throws, especially longer ones.

Barkley, for his part, said he had never played in a game with as much wind as Saturday's scrimmage.

"You could see it on Matt's deep ball even over here," Kiffin said.

Kessler said he specifically noticed the wind affecting one of his three incompletions but added that he felt he got considerably better over the 15 spring practices.

"It went really good," Kessler said of the spring as a whole. "Especially with it being my second spring, it was nice coming in and knowing what to expect."

Kiffin will reveal an updated end-of-spring depth chart on Monday. Kessler and Wittek should be listed as 2a and 2b behind Barkley, and it'll probably be that way well into fall camp in August.

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.

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.

Now this throws a little wrinkle into the USC Trojans' plan for their quarterback of the future.

One of the top-ranked signal-callers in the class of 2013, Sammamish (Wa.) Skyline's Max Browne, committed to USC on Wednesday night in a ceremony at his high school in the suburbs east of Seattle, according to multiple Internet reports.

Browne, a 6-foot-5 gunslinger, is expected to enroll early at USC next January, putting him into position to immediately challenge Cody Kessler and Max Wittek in the race to replace Matt Barkley.

He'll be in a similar situation as Barkley was in January 2009, when Barkley enrolled early out of Santa Ana Mater Dei High and then beat out Aaron Corp and Mitch Mustain to replace Mark Sanchez, who now plays for the New York Jets.

Browne chose the Trojans over the likes of Oklahoma, Alabama, and hometown Washington.

Browne is ranked No. 1 at his position in his class, according to Rivals.com and Scout.com. ESPN has not yet released rankings for players in the class of 2013, but Browne is an ESPNU 150 Watch List prospect.

Sammamish (Wa.) quarterback Max Browne will announce his college decision at a ceremony at Skyline High School at 8 p.m. PT Wednesday, according to multiple reports.

Browne, one of the top-ranked prospects in the Class of 2013 by all recruiting services, is believed to be seriously considering USC as his next destination. He visited the Trojans for three days last week and also attended the school's Junior Day in February. He has an older brother, Mitch, in the L.A. area.

Washington, his local school, is an option, but most expect the 6-foot-5 Browne to commit to either Oklahoma or USC.

An interesting wrinkle to the story: Browne has the potential to enroll early for his class and begin taking college courses in January 2013. The Trojans have three empty slots for such early-enrollees.

If he does enroll early, it's conceivable he could challenge then-redshirt sophomores Cody Kessler and Max Wittek for the starting job vacated by the graduation of Matt Barkley.

In fact, the situation could eerily mirror Barkley's, who arrived on campus January 2009 and beat out redshirt sophomore Aaron Corp and junior Mitch Mustain to earn the right to replace top NFL draft pick Mark Sanchez.

USC quarterback Matt Barkley is going to Haiti this summer on a volunteer mission to help build houses, and he's bringing 14 other USC Trojans with him.

Barkley, an experienced foreign volunteer with trips to Nigeria and South Africa under his belt in the last few years, said his parents have been planning the six-day trip for some time. They recently thought to invite a number of the other players on the team who expressed interest in coming along too.

"We wanted to do something one more time while I was in college before life gets pretty crazy and all that stuff," Barkley said on Tuesday after the Trojans' practice. "I've grown up with these guys and played together with them for four years. I've known guys like Devon and T.J. for even longer than that. This came up, and we decided it'd be a great opportunity to go down there.

"It ended up being a little more guys than we originally planned, but I'm all for it. We're going to build houses. It's going to be awesome."

According to a USC news release, the team of Trojans will build a minimum of three houses and transport more than 2,000 pounds of supplies for orphanages and schools as part of the May deployment of Hope Force International, an organization that specializes in quick strike disaster relief.

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Quarterback Jesse Scroggins missed Tuesday's practice to focus on academic issues, coach Lane Kiffin said, and could miss more of the Trojans' five remaining sessions to try to secure his eligibility for the fall semester.

"It's important how well he finishes," Kiffin said Tuesday.

Scroggins, a redshirt sophomore, is academically ineligible this spring but has the ability to pull himself up past the GPA minimum with certain marks. If he doesn't get them, he'll be ineligible in the fall -- when it really matters -- and unable to compete in the 2012 season.

During winter workouts, Scroggins guaranteed he would be able to get himself eligible by the end of the spring semester, which concludes May 9. But Kiffin indicated that the Lakewood native still has a lot of work to do in the final month.

"I will be eligible in the fall, there is no question about that," Scroggins told ESPNLosAngeles.com in February. "I will be practicing in the spring and I will still be here in the fall, no doubt about it."

Of course, Scroggins has been sidelined for much of the spring because of an injured hip and has been unable to participate in most parts of practices even when he was out on the field. Kiffin said that played a role in the Trojans' decision to keep him off the field altogether.

"He's coming to our meetings but because he can't do all the stuff in practice we're leaving him in academics to do some extra work," Kiffin said.

Because of his absence this spring, Scroggins has fallen behind redshirt freshmen Max Wittek and Cody Kessler in the competition to back up starting quarterback Matt Barkley this fall.

Matt Barkley didn't attempt a single pass in the scrimmage portion of the Trojans' Saturday practice at the Coliseum, a move designed to maximize Cody Kessler and Max Wittek's opportunities in a game-like setting.

The two redshirt freshmen split snaps fairly evenly, with Wittek going first with the rest of the first-team offense and Kessler following with the second-teamers. They switched after the mid-scrimmage break.

Neither player threw a pick and both completed the majority of their passes, despite having only two scholarship receivers to work with -- and only one, De'Von Flournoy, for a good portion of the session.

They each had one noticeable mess-up: Wittek overthrew Victor Blackwell on the first play of the scrimmage in what he called a miscommunication and Kessler slipped on the wet grass when trying to hit Tre Madden on a flat that he said would have been a for-sure touchdown.

Overall, Lane Kiffin said he was pleased with both players' performance in front of several hundred fans at the Coliseum.

"I thought they did a good job, same thing running the huddle," he said. "They seemed very mature when you're around the huddle with them and with the offense so it's good to see."

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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.

Quick, guess which USC quarterback has thrown the most interceptions for the Trojans this spring?

It's not Cody Kessler, who has thrown zero, or fellow redshirt freshman Max Wittek, who has thrown only a few. It's starter Matt Barkley, who, after his latest pick in Thursday's practice, has now thrown seven in eight practices this spring.

Coach Lane Kiffin is not worried, but he's not exactly pleased, either.

"We don't like it," Kiffin said Thursday. "But it's not the end of the world. As we get closer to game time we'll get him back to normal."

What can the mistakes be attributed to? Aside from sheer coincidence, which Kiffin seemed to think was a bit of the problem, the coach also offered two other reasons: (1) Sheer boredom and (2) A lack of talent around him.

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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.

File this under the category of weird-but-almost-certainly-true: Last week was the first week of practice since spring 2009 in which Matt Barkley didn't conduct a group interview.

The last time he was able to walk off the field each time the Trojans practiced without being surrounded by several media members was most likely that spring, during his first few months on campus. Ever since, he's been by far the most-interviewed player on the team and, really, the unofficial spokesman of the program's players.

That's why it's somewhat meaningful that he didn't talk after three practices last week. It symbolizes the back seat Barkley is taking this spring -- the back seat from the spotlight and the back seat on the field, where he's giving way to second-year signal-callers Cody Kessler and Max Wittek each day in practice to get the youngsters more experience.

Barkley admitted Tuesday he's gotten "kind of jealous" of Kessler and Wittek this spring, with this also being the first time since spring 2009 that he's not consistently taking the majority of the snaps.

"But," he said, "I know that’s going to be beneficial for them and our team in the long run.”

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