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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 and linebackers so far. Today, we analyze the cornerbacks.

Here's an honest truth: USC didn't have a real cornerbacks coach last season.

Once secondary coach Willie Mack Garza resigned just before the start of the regular season last September, graduate assistant Sammy Knight took over for him and did a commendable job, according to Lane Kiffin and his players. But Knight was a college and NFL safety and a true safeties' specialist, and he had very little experience coaching corners, if any at all.

That ended up hurting the Trojans significantly. Torin Harris and Tony Burnett both struggled last season and showed little week-to-week improvement. Junior-college transfer Isiah Wiley took longer to develop than USC envisioned.

Both of those things can be directly traced to the absence of a true cornerbacks coach. That, however, will no longer be an issue in 2012, not with new defensive backs coach Marvin Sanders now in the fold.

Sanders has a reputation as an elite corners coach. He's had a number of his players at that position drafted high over the years, including Prince Amukamara last year and Alfonzo Dennard this year.

What kind of impact can he make on USC's cornerback group?

There's certainly a lot of talent. This spring alone, he'll be able to work with two-year starter Nickell Robey, Wiley, Burnett and senior Brian Baucham -- plus redshirt freshman Ryan Henderson, one of the most athletic prospects across the country in the Class of 2011.

Burnett will be splitting his time with track, but Sanders could also have Florida transfer Josh Shaw, who will play either safety or corner. And Harris and Anthony Brown are expected back from season-ending surgeries at some point soon.

It isn't as necessary to find the second starting corner over the next month and a half as much as it's necessary to find a top four of sorts. Wiley will be in that mix and Brown probably will be too when he's healthy, but who else can Sanders and the Trojans count on as a reliable nickel-corner type to defend the passing offenses of the Pac-12?

Check back Friday for the safeties and Monday as we conclude our series with the special-teamers.

USC coach Lane Kiffin announced the hiring of two assistant coaches at Sunday's Junior Day, according to multiple media reports.

Marvin Sanders will coach defensive backs and Scottie Hazelton will coach linebackers. A program source told ESPNLosAngeles.com the hirings were being finalized Sunday and would be formally announced at some point Monday.

Sanders was hired in December by Florida Atlantic after taking the 2011 season off, resigning from Nebraska last February for "personal and family reasons." In coming to USC, he fills an opening created by Willie Mack Garza's September resignation; grad assistant Sammy Knight had served as the interim position coach during the 2011 season but wasn't seriously considered for the full-time vacancy.

Hazelton has never played or coached at the FBS level but spent the last two seasons as the defensive coordinator at North Dakota State. At a previous stop at the school, he worked with Gus Bradley, who worked with Monte Kiffin in Tampa Bay and now works as the defensive coordinator under Pete Carroll for the NFL's Seattle Seahawks.

Hazelton replaces Joe Barry, who left for the NFL's San Diego Chargers earlier this month. Both Hazelton and Sanders have worked extensively with the Cover-2 defense.

USC now has only one opening to fill -- wide receivers coach -- before spring practice starts March 6. Ted Gilmore left for the NFL's Oakland Raiders last week.

Potential candidates for that job are believed to include former USC receiver and grad assistant Keary Colbert, former UCLA interim head coach Mike Johnson, Arizona State receivers coach DelVaughn Alexander and Clemson receivers coach Jeff Scott, among others.

Kiffin told ESPN.com's Ted Miller last week he hoped to fill all three openings by the end of the upcoming week.

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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1. The conditions and a potential letdown. Weather.com projects it to be 47 degrees at kickoff Friday night in Boulder. But it won't be snowing, and the weather, in general, won't be much worse than it was two weeks ago in South Bend -- except for the altitude, which could make for some easily-tired players and big boots from USC kicker Andre Heidari. And Buffaloes fans can get loud, and they typically turn out in big numbers for big-time opponents. Colorado nearly sold out Folsom Field two weeks ago when Oregon visited and Friday's game is reportedly approaching sellout status as well. This game definitely shows signs of the prototypical letdown game, but it's Lane Kiffin's job to prevent that from happening.

2. Putting it behind them. That brings us to what happened last week, because that's the biggest reason why everybody's talking about this game as a letdown chance. USC came thisclose to beating the fourth-ranked team in the country. They were within a second (or correctly called timeout) of kicking a potential game-winning field goal and went into triple overtime against Andrew Luck and the Stanford Cardinal. But the Trojans didn't win the game, and Kiffin made a big fuss about some apparent officiating gaffes in the following days, forcing the conversation away from Colorado and onto Stanford. We'll see whether that was the right decision for his team on the field against the Buffaloes.

3. Richardson-Stewart. Colorado expects its two best offensive players to come back this week, a rarity in sports but a likelihood for USC. Receiver Paul Richardson (four games) and running back Rodney Stewart (two games) have been out of late, but coach Jon Embree said he expects them both back. Richardson spent his senior year in 2009 at Gardena Serra high, where he served as Robert Woods' bookend receiver, so he has plenty of history with the Trojans. The 5-6, 175-pound Stewart is an Ohio native who wasn't highly recruited out of high school but has gone on to success in the Big 12 and now the Pac-12.

4. Health on defense. It looks like Dion Bailey might miss the game because of a concussion. Jawanza Starling is likely missing it because of an unspecified injury, and T.J. McDonald is missing the first half because of a suspension. Combine that with the pile-up of injuries at cornerback over the last several weeks, and USC's secondary is going to be severely shorthanded. Kiffin and position coach Sammy Knight are lucky the Trojans are playing Colorado this week -- otherwise, it'd be a significant issue. And defensive end Wes Horton missed both sessions this week because of what appears to be a left arm issue. Also, the Buffaloes are getting two cornerbacks back this week, which should make for a decidedly better performance from their secondary. They played one game with six scholarship corners injured last month.

5. Blowout possibilities? This is the Trojans' last legitimate chance to send a team packing in one half, which they've yet to do this season. The closest thing to it would be their 20-0 halftime lead over Cal, but even that was a bit of a game in the second half. Colorado hasn't finished within three touchdowns of an opponent since Oct. 1, so this would appear to be the perfect opportunity. Matt Barkley might actually get a snap or two off, too, for the first time this year. If he does, Jesse Scroggins might be the guy Kiffin asks to hand the ball off a few times. With back-to-back games against teams they're 0-4 against in the last two years in Oregon and Washington approaching, the Trojans could use some all-around rest.

More notes and quotes from Tuesday's practice at USC:

• Trojans head coach Lane Kiffin announced that safeties graduate assistant Sammy Knight and assistant coach Monte Kiffin will officially be splitting the secondary coach duties for the rest of the season, just as they did last week after Willie Mack Garza resigned Thursday citing personal reasons. Knight, a former USC safety and NFL Pro-Bowler, is in his second season as a USC staffer but has never been a full-time coach. The elder Kiffin will help him out with different, unexpected situations, but it sounds like it'll mostly be Knight's job for the rest of the year. "We have a lot of confidence in Sammy," Lane Kiffin said. "He's been with us now two years and he's done a real good job. He's never really coached before as far as running a room, so my dad will help him with that and I think together they'll do well back there. I know the players like Sammy a lot."

• Practicing with the first team at left guard for much of practice was senior Martin Coleman, who could unseat Jeremy Galten if it turns out Abe Markowitz isn't ready to start Saturday against Utah. Coleman had an opportunity to win the starting job during camp but couldn't beat out Galten, but the coaches clearly weren't overly pleased with how the juco transfer's debut went. Of course, Kiffin has repeatedly referred to Markowitz as the starter, so when he does get back from his foot injury, it's safe to assume he'll be the No. 1 guy.

• Tallahassee, Fla. running back Javorious "Buck" Allen practiced for the first time with the Trojans on Tuesday after arriving on campus late last Thursday and then beginning classes Friday, just one week before the school-wide deadline to enroll. Allen was on the sidelines for Saturday's game against Minnesota but is considered a sure bet to redshirt.

• USC dropped out of the AP Top 25 poll released Tuesday as one of two teams to fall out of the rankings despite winning their opener. The other team? Reigning national champion Auburn, who started at No. 23 but struggled to beat Utah State at home, 42-38. The Trojans had started at No. 25 and fell to what equates to 28th, as the team with the third-most votes not in the Top 25. Pac-12 South rival Arizona State, who USC faces in less than three weeks in Tempe, has the most votes of any team not in the Top 25.

• The powder-blue and gold jerseys USC scout-team members wore during Thursday's practice were back Tuesday, but they weren't used. Instead they simply stayed out on the Howard Jones Field grass for the duration of the session and were picked up by the team managers following the end of practice.

On Friday, USC's two leaders in its secondary, T.J. McDonald and Nickell Robey, pulled their teammates aside during the transition between meetings at the Trojans' downtown hotel and shared with them a simple message.

Yes, the defensive backs had lost the services of their position coach, Willie Mack Garza, 48 hours before the 2011 season opener Saturday against Minnesota. (Garza resigned Thursday for personal reasons). No, McDonald and Robey told the group of a dozen or so, they would not let it affect their play against the Gophers.

And, where Garza would normally be Saturday, in pregame warmups and on the sidelines, the Trojans had two ready-made replacements in safeties graduate assistant Sammy Knight and assistant coach Monte Kiffin. The two men have shared Garza's typical duties over the last two days and plan to do so in the immediate future.

"If you think about it, we're in a great situation," said McDonald, who clearly did think about it, admitting he was at first shocked when he found out about Garza. "Not to take anything away from Coach Garza, but Monte Kiffin is a legend in himself and Sammy Knight played 12, 13 years in the NFL. I know we have good coaches, so I'm not worried about it."

"Of course it's something that you don't want to have to deal with, if you're a few days before the game. But for us, really, it didn't matter."

McDonald's comments are no surprise. The junior safety is a team captain and is media-savvy. What was somewhat of a surprise: It really didn't look as if the Trojans missed Garza at all. Saturday's performance by the defensive backs would rank above-average compared to last year's 13 games.

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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.

1. The running back battle: It's unusual, but it just might work. It appears the Trojans are purposely refraining from naming a starter at running back to motivate the three competitors for the position and confuse Minnesota, too. But who's going to get the most carries? At this point, the most astute guess would probably be D.J. Morgan, the redshirt freshman ex-track star. He's the hottest hand of late, running harder than ever and running with good vision. Outside of that, it's hard to predict -- but we do know now that freshman standout Amir Carlisle will likely sit out and thus won't be a part of the race.

2. Step one for the defense: How does that phrase go? The first step is always the hardest? Well, this is step one for the Trojans' defense in attempting to reverse their fortunes from a horrible 2010 season. They've been better in camp this fall, but they've only been tackling themselves. Tackling somebody else is a whole new challenge. It starts on the defensive line, where the fearsome fivesome of Devon Kennard, Wes Horton, Christian Tupou, DaJohn Harris and Nick Perry have the opportunity to set the tone for the rest of the unit, with George Uko helping out too. The linebackers and defensive backs have clear strengths and clear weaknesses, so it'll be interesting to take note of how and what Minnesota chooses to attack.

3. Can the offensive line hold up? In terms of interest, this thing to watch doesn't rank all that high. But in terms of importance, it might deserve to be No. 1. A weak guard tandem of Jeremy Galten and John Martinez could end up the Trojans' downfall this season -- not necessarily on Saturday but at some point in the near future. Quarterback Matt Barkley will never even sniff a Heisman campaign this year if his inexperienced line doesn't at least give him a couple seconds to deliver the ball. Luckily, he has one of the best left tackles in college football in Matt Kalil and one of the smartest players in the nation in Khaled Holmes at center.

4. Willie Mack Garza's absence: Remember how Lane Kiffin had "NO DISTRACTIONS" painted in white just outside Howard Jones Field to remind his players to focus during practice? Maybe he should've done it upstairs in Heritage Hall, too -- because the Thursday resignation of Garza, USC's secondary coach, serves as one sizable distraction heading into kickoff. There will be questions asked about it afterward, but the immediate effects will be on the field, obviously, where Garza's young unit will face its first test without their position coach. (Sammy Knight will probably take over temporarily and potentially long-term). One good part about it: If there was one game this year to be without a secondary coach, this might be the one , because Minnesota's simply not going to throw the ball very much.

5. Stopping MarQueis Gray: USC hasn't been very good against running quarterbacks in the past, and this guy Gray is a legitimate 1,000-rushing-yard candidate as a signal-caller, a rare caliber of athlete for the position. Kiffin compared him to Vince Young earlier this week, and it makes some sense, although Gray has much, much less quarterbacking experience than Young did when the Trojans saw him. This'll be his first collegiate start at quarterback. On the field, it's important that USC's young outside linebackers and extra defensive backs don't overcommit to Gray when he fakes to take off running, because there are plenty of examples of Gophers coach Jerry Kill's last quarterback, Northern Illinois' Chandler Harnish, doing that and then pulling back to deliver an on-target pass.

Notes, quotes and video from Wednesday's practice:

• Coach Lane Kiffin called practice "sloppy" -- never a good word to be thrown around by a head coach, especially during game week. But that's exactly what the Trojans were Wednesday, with near-turnovers across the board from the offense and the defense appearing to lack discipline on a number of occasions.

• Injury report: Defensive end Wes Horton (back) and cornerback T.J. Bryant (undisclosed) were listed as "limited" after practice and offensive lineman Michael Reardon was out. Bryant appeared fine as he participated in a good amount of defensive drills, but Horton spent most of practice on the sideline.

• Two big practice plays: Walk-on linebacker Will Andrew lit up freshman running back Dillon Baxter after he caught the ball in first-team offense vs. second-team defense drills and tight end Blake Ayles viciously juked safety Marshall Jones on his way to scoring a touchdown. Andrew's hit was only one of several times that Baxter was hit -- hard -- by the defense Wednesday, prompting jokes on the sideline that USC's no-tackling mantra applied to everyone except the true freshman. After Jones was beaten by Ayles, safeties graduate assistant Sammy Knight gave all the members of the secondary a lecture on the sidelines, appearing to say that other players were out of position on the play and thus left Jones hung out to dry.

• Backup quarterback Mitch Mustain has been the Trojans' holder so far this season, getting quite a few chances to make something out of the point-after attempt with Kiffin's many calls to go for two. But even though Baxter would seem to be a natural choice if USC wants a dynamic player at that spot, Kiffin said Wednesday that Baxter will stay away from the spot for the time being. "We’re just trying to get Dillon to go to class, line up right and not fumble,” Kiffin said. “The last thing we’re going to do is let him do all our field-goal plays. There’s a lot of audibles that go with that. That’s why Mitch is in there.”

• The majority of the talk -- from players, coaches and the media alike -- in advance of this weekend's game has been centered on quarterback Jake Locker and coach Steve Sarkisian's ties to the USC program. But Kiffin tried to shift some of that over to rest of the Huskies squad Wednesday. Said Kiffin: "As we continue to watch film, we continue to see how dangerous these guys can be, obviously because of the quarterback, running back and receiver on offense but on defense because...they bring people from everywhere."

• About Locker, freshman quarterback Jesse Scroggins continues to portray the Washington senior in scout-team drills this week. Scroggins said Wednesday that he has learned through the process that the Washington senior is very competitive -- and very smart. "It's a privilege," Scroggins said of being chosen to play as Locker. "Basically, (the coaches) are giving you this role because they think you can play this role. To give it to a specific person, I think that's wonderful." We'll have more on Scroggins on Thursday.

• Final notes: One more practice this week -- Thursday at 4 p.m. ... Neither Marc Tyler nor Allen Bradford have received word that they will start this week's game at running back, Kiffin said, and the players are still listed as co-starters on the depth chart. Last week, you may remember, the starting role at the position actually went to fullback Stanley Havili -- who took the game's first carry as a single back and rumbled 59 yards for a score.

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Kiffin spoke to the media after practice, talking over the Trojans' jump in the rankings, that lack of discipline and how to fix it and a number of other topics.

See what he had to say:



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Defensive end Armond Armstead missed the Washington State game because of a shoulder injury -- the same shoulder injury he played with against Minnesota the previous week.

Armstead said Wednesday that he would've played had it been a bigger game, and he also assessed the status of the defensive line at this point in the season.

See what he had to say:

Notes, quotes and video from Tuesday's evening practice, arguably the most exciting, hardest-hitting yet:

• It may seem counter-intuitive, but, according to Lane Kiffin, two-a-days create more energy -- not less. The Trojans had to wait almost seven hours between morning and evening practices on Tuesday, and Kiffin said that he has found in each of his coaching stops that players respond well to such situations. Plus, the Trojans' morning practice was lighter than a typical two-a-day -- and there's the night-time factor, which Kiffin said adds to it all. "It creates more energy, being under the lights," he said. "And the players respond to it."

• Practice highlights: a huge, bone-crushing hit from middle linebacker Devon Kennard on running back Marc Tyler and an impressive come-from-behind tackle by defensive end Kevin Greene of running back C.J. Gable after Gable broke a run through the secondary and nearly took it to the house. Two impressive interceptions and a reception in a crowded end zone are also detailed below.

• Injury report: senior offensive lineman Butch Lewis had an MRI on his hip Tuesday morning, Kiffin said. Immediate results were not available. Freshman safety Dion Bailey sat out of practice while waiting to be cleared after suffering a concussion. Defensive ends Armond Armstead and James Boyd, tight end Blake Ayles, receiver Kyle Prater, left tackle Matt Kalil and fullback Stanley Havili all returned to the practice field, while receivers De'Von Flournoy (shoulder) and Brandon Carswell (thigh) remained out.

• While freshmen Dillon Baxter and Markeith Ambles spent the morning practice running on the sideline as punishment for arriving late to a team function, only Baxter was forced to continue with the punishment during the evening practice. From start to finish, Baxter did a variety of brutal drills, including rollovers across the end zone for a good 45 minutes. Asked why Ambles was allowed to return to practice, Kiffin indicated that Ambles' transgression was an honest mistake -- whereas Baxter made the choice fully knowing he was in the wrong. "I hope it's a good lesson for him to learn," Kiffin said of Baxter.

• The trio of freshmen wideouts -- Ambles and Prater, plus Robert Woods -- have received much of the pass-catching pub during the first week of fall practice, leaving redshirt sophomore Brice Butler -- the projected starter at split end at the end of spring practice -- a bit out of the spotlight. But Butler had a nice performance Tuesday evening, making two big catches in traffic near the end of practice and one in particular that Kiffin complemented. "Brice has made a number of plays, but he has not made the really tough play for us," he said. "He made one today, which was nice to see. He's going to have to go take it away like the big body guys we had before did."

• Both Matt Barkley and Mitch Mustain threw their first interceptions of the fall in the final 15 minutes of Tuesday's practice. On a deep ball in which Kiffin said that Woods made "a rookie mistake" on, Torin Harris picked off Barkley. And Mustain delivered a ball fairly well to Prater near the sideline, only to have true freshman cornerback Anthony Brown strip it away from him and grab the interception.

• On Woods, Kiffin went out of his way to compare the freshman's off-the-field mentality to current USC graduate assistant Keary Colbert on Tuesday, making the Gardena Serra product now a cross between former Trojan receivers Steve Smith and Colbert in Kiffin's eyes. Hyperbole aside, Woods had a very good practice under the lights. His ability to adjust to balls as they travel toward him is simply superb, and Kiffin mentioned that he frequently sees Woods at mealtimes with his head in the playbook.

• Final notes: Defensive end Nick Perry made the Hendricks Award watch list today, awarded to the nation's best defensive end...Practice is scheduled to resume at 3 p.m. tomorrow before another two-a-day Thursday...Joked Kiffin when asked about the host skill position players his squad boasts compared to a dearth of offensive linemen: "Do you think they'd let us play 7-on-7? We'll challenge anybody."

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Kiffin had many positive things to say about his team after the high-energy day they had Tuesday. Hear his thoughts on the offense answering an early surge from the defense, Woods' off-the-field habits and more from Tuesday's post-practice media session:



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Former Trojan safety Sammy Knight returned to USC earlier this year to be the defensive graduate assistant under Kiffin. Knight, 34, essentially works under defensive backs coach Willie Mack Garza while working primarily with the safeties.

Hear from Knight on his journey to the NFL and back from USC, plus get his thoughts on his pair of young safeties slated to start come September, Jawanza Starling and T.J. McDonald:

USC keeps finding his way into the spotlight.

First-year football coach Lane Kiffin announced Saturday he has filled out his coaching staff by hiring USC alum Kennedy Pola to be the Trojans' offensive coordinator and running backs coach -- but, as usual, it didn't come without controversy.

See, Pola signed on to be the Tennessee Titans' running backs coach six months ago. And, according to Titans coach Jeff Fisher, Kiffin didn't inform him of his interest in hiring Pola until after Pola had already accepted the position Saturday.

Kiffin released a subsequent statement claiming a slightly different sequence of events -- but it does appear Kiffin and Fisher have yet to actually speak on the subject. Both coaches' statements indicated indirect conversation; Fisher said Kiffin left him a voicemail.

Kiffin came short of admitting error in the matter in a statement released by the school Saturday afternoon, but he did allow that the situation wasn't ideal.

“We realize the timing of this isn’t perfect for all parties, but this is a great opportunity and promotion for Kennedy," he said.

An hour after Kiffin's statement, USC released an official statement announcing Pola's hiring. In it, Kiffin focused on the 46-year-old Pola's past experience -- both at USC and in the NFL.

“It’s great to welcome Kennedy home,” Kiffin said. “This is a great opportunity and promotion for him. He’s done an outstanding job wherever he’s been in college and the NFL. The last time he was here, he helped build the foundation for the championship run of the past 9 years.

Pola also joins linebackers coach Joe Barry, tight ends graduate assistant coach Keary Colbert, defensive assistant Sammy Knight and offensive assistant Lenny Vandermade as former USC players on Kiffin's staff -- and six other coaches as former NFL coaches now working for the Trojans.

"It’s always great to bring another Trojan back to the family, as he’s now the fifth former USC player on our staff," Kiffin said. "He’s also the seventh full-time coach on our staff with NFL coaching experience.”

Some notes from Lane Kiffin's afternoon meeting with reporters, held inside Heritage Hall. Spring practice begins Tuesday at 4 p.m. on Howard Jones Field. Kiffin discussed former Trojans Sammy Knight and Keary Colbert, who he said were well on their way to being hired as graduate assistants by USC, outfielder/safety Jawanza Starling, who alternates between practicing with baseball and football this spring, and quite a few other topics:

• At quarterback, Kiffin insisted that Matt Barkley and Mitch Mustain will start off as equals, despite the fact that Barkley has 352 pass attempts with the Trojans compared with Mustain's 16. "That’s open," Kiffin said. "Both guys will have exactly equal reps tomorrow."
• Linebacker Jarvis Jones, a key recruit in the class of 2009 who played significant time as a reserve last year before missing the final five games with a neck injury, could very well keep him on the sidelines this season — and possibly for the rest of his career. “I’m not very positive about the possibilities of him playing here, at all," Kiffin said. "I don’t know how to describe it from a medical perspective. There’s a serious concern that hits or a number of hits could lead to permanent damage. Obviously, Jarvis’ safety is the No. 1 issue.”
• More on the injury front: Kiffin said a full report regarding the team's many injuries would be available after Tuesday's initial practice. “We have a lot of injury concerns,” Kiffin said in the meantime. “We’re surprisingly very injured at this point. I don’t really know what to credit that to. But there’ll be a number of guys that are either out or limited tomorrow.”
• In competition news, Devon Kennard will get a shot to unseat Chris Galippo at middle linebacker. Kennard started his freshman season in 2009 as a defensive end but switched to strongside linebacker midway through the season when Michael Morgan faltered. Said Kiffin of the sophomore Kennard: "This is potentially a really special player." Linebacker as a whole, Kiffin said, was the position group most in need of improvement. "That position is so critical for us," he said.
• Kiffin also said he wouldn't shy away from using early enrollee athlete Dillon Baxter in the wildcat formation, as some have predicted. Baxter will play running back, Kiffin said, and “go out to receiver at times.” Kiffin said he felt it would be easier to play Baxter primarily at running back and rotate him in at receiver than the other way around.
• Asked if he thought USC had enough talent to measure up to past seasons, Kiffin said: "I don’t know enough yet. I don’t even know if I could answer that towards the end of the spring." He added, "I don't think it's any secret we don't have a bunch of proven players coming back."
• The QB race might be open, but from the looks of things, practices will be less open under the Kiffin regime. Said Kiffin on Monday of the idea that former Pete Carroll allowed just about anyone into practices: "I think that's a misconception that practices have been open to the public, because they haven't been. There was a system in place here before of how people got into practice, and we will have a statement I anticipate will be released within the next 24 hours on that. Our practices will not be open to the public, but they weren't before either."