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

Scholarship count

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

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

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

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

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

Scroggins' future?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

There were nine seconds left in the USC-Notre Dame game on Oct. 17, 2009, and the Fighting Irish were down a touchdown.

They had the ball at the USC four-yard line, just 12 feet away from pulling off a miraculous 20-point comeback in the final quarter at Notre Dame Stadium. But what happened next was one of the most memorable plays of the last few years of USC football.

Quarterback Jimmy Clausen collected the snap, stepped back and delivered an on-target fade route off his back foot to 6-foot-6 tight end Kyle Rudolph. And Rudolph, now playing for the NFL's Minnesota Vikings, appeared ready to corral the ball in perfect position for the touchdown -- except that USC cornerback, T.J. Bryant, all 6 feet of him, jumped up just in time and knocked the ball out of his hands.

Rudolph ended up diving to catch the deflection alongside USC safety Will Harris and did secure the ball but was ruled out of bounds. The Irish had two more chances to score from the four before time expired, but that turned out to their best one, and USC won 34-27.

"I just remembering them motioning out and I knew they were trying about to throw a fade," Bryant recalled Wednesday. "So instead of trying to go for the pick, knowing that they were throwing the fade and knowing he was 6-6 or 6-7, I knew I had to time it up perfectly and just knock the ball down."

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USC cornerback T.J. Bryant, who has not played in a game this season and has not suited up for the past two, will redshirt this season, Trojans coach Lane Kiffin announced Tuesday.

"We're trying to redshirt T.J. so he can improve," Kiffin said.

It's an unusual move. Bryant is a senior, and the vast majority of redshirt seasons come in the player's first year on campus. A select few, like USC receiver De'Von Flournoy, redshirt their sophomore years, but it's very abnormal to redshirt a senior season.

But the Trojans have at least five and maybe six cornerbacks ahead of Bryant on the depth chart right now. Redshirt freshman Anthony Brown and juco transfer Isiah Wiley have jumped in front of him this year.

Bryant, a Tallahassee, Fla. native, was a key backup at cornerback in 2008 and 2009 under former coach Pete Carroll before playing in only four games as a junior in 2010.

He has 32 tackles in his USC career.

Running back Javorious 'Buck' Allen will arrive on campus Thursday, nearly a month after was originally planned, and begin practicing with the Trojans next week, Trojans coach Lane Kiffin indicated Wednesday.

Allen, a Class of 2011 freshman from Tallahassee, Fla., was delayed by a summer-school class he had to take back home at Lincoln High, the alma mater of current Trojans Jawanza Starling and T.J. Bryant. But, even then, he was supposed to arrive by the first weekend of fall camp alongside fellow late-arrival Junior Pomee.

But neither of them ended up coming when Kiffin predicted they would, with Pomee arriving roughly two weeks into camp and then breaking his foot less than a week in. Allen's arrival was further delayed, Kiffin revealed Wednesday, by issues with the NCAA Clearinghouse, but that has all been resolved at this point.

The 6-1, 205-pounder will now likely redshirt the 2011 season but could see time as a big-back specialist once Marc Tyler leaves after this year. All of the Trojans' other options are of a smaller build.

Allen turned 20 earlier this week.

Then-sophomore Jawanza Starling began the 2010 season as USC’s starting strong safety, but he still didn't know how to tackle correctly.

Now, he does, he says. Now, after Lane Kiffin and Monte Kiffin drilled into him -- after he lost his starting spot late last fall -- that he needed to learn how to do it the right way. Now, after he spent the last eight months working on learning all the things he should have learned previously.

In Monday’s scrimmage at the Coliseum, Starling appeared sharp subbing in for the injured Demetrius Wright in collecting five tackles. Lane Kiffin said afterward, without prompting from reporters, that Starling did “exactly what we need him to do – tackle better, like he did today.”

After Tuesday's practice, Kiffin said: “Some things that have concerned us in the past with his tackling, he took those serious in the offseason and you can tell he’s improved there.”

He’s clearly pleased with what he’s been seeing from the 6-foot-1, 195-pound junior safety.

“Improving my tackling was a big thing since last year,” Starling said Tuesday, one day after the head coach first spotlighted him. “Since the spring, I’ve been practicing tackling and I’ve been getting a lot better at it.”

You’d think that, of all people, Starling would know how to tackle. He went to Lincoln High in Tallahassee, Fla., where defensive backs are churned out across the SEC every year, it seems. Heck, even USC signed a player in the class above him: cornerback T.J. Bryant.

But he didn’t learn the right way to tackle at Lincoln.

“In high school, I was one of the biggest players, so I never really had form tackling, it was more like just throwing my shoulder and my body in there and they would fall,” Starling said. “But it’s college now. There are a lot more better athletes and it just takes an extra effort to get in the right position, get your feet and drive your hips and wrap up and then bring them down.”

He learned that the hard way last season, with a number of high-profile missed tackles that got fans calling for him to be replaced midway through the year. He never was really replaced, though, as he hurt his hamstring in the Arizona State game in November and sat out the next three games while recovering. By the time he was healthy, it was the season finale against UCLA and then-walk-on Tony Burnett started in his place.

Two lines from Starling’s 2008 ESPNU scouting report out of high school help explain his issues: “Makes a lot of tackles but needs to work on tackling technique. Must tackle with more authority and … be more physical when finishing the play."

Those sentences are the only non-complementary words in the entire report, but they tell a whole story. The same areas of tackling that caused him problems in high school troubled him two full years later as a college sophomore.

And Starling says it wasn’t just that. As he has spent more time in the film room over the years, he has learned his assignments better and better. And, with that, he says, he can rush to the ball better and get in better position to tackle – which is, sometimes half or more of the battle anyway.

Another interesting thing about Starling: Both he and McDonald, the projected starting free safety, appear to be better-suited to playing closer to the line as in-the-box safety of sorts. But only one of them would actually be able to do it if Starling ends up starting, and that will most definitely be McDonald.

But he can adapt, he says. As he has with the whole tackling ordeal, which clearly took a lot out of him, physically and mentally, toward the end of last season. But part of his value as a player comes in his quick-witted intelligence, and that’s come in handy of late as he really began to process what the coaching staff wanted from him.

And now, with Wright out for at least a few days with a hip pointer and potentially longer, Starling finds himself operating on a temporary proving ground at the strong safety spot alongside senior Marshall Jones, who’s also competing for the spot.

Only three days remain until fall camp begins for the Trojans on Thursday, Aug. 4. We've been previewing the biggest questions that USC hopes to answer in the monthlong period between camp and the season opener in a series since last week. Read the first seventh questions-and-answers here.

The eighth is this: with sophomore cornerback Nickell Robey expected to start -- and shine -- in 2011, who will be the second cornerback for the Trojans?

The three players with a real chance to win the job: juco transfer Isiah Wiley, track-jumper-turned-football-player Tony Burnett and redshirt sophomore Torin Harris.

Wiley, who was originally headed to Alabama out of high school before failing to qualify, has the size and speed to start right away. The issue with him will be picking up Monte Kiffin's Cover-2 defense, although he's been scouted as a good tackler. Remember that one of the main reasons cited by the Kiffin's for last year's defensive struggles -- especially in the secondary -- were players taking time to pick up the schemes and new things they were being asked to do.

That'll essentially be repeated with Wiley, who didn't get a chance to enroll at USC in January, as the coaching staff had originally planned. If he had, he'd probably be the natural favorite. Of all the players there for the spring and competing for the spot, Burnett played the best, earning intermittent praise from Lane Kiffin and a number of his teammates.

He has no game experience at corner, having spent the 2010 season at safety. But his instincts are good, and so is his size, at 6-1 and close to 200 pounds. He would be a good contrast to Robey in that regard, allowing USC to suit up one small corner and one big one.

Harris is a natural ballhawk who has struggled both with injuries and consistency. He missed spring practice while recovering from a shoulder injury. The best play he's made as a Trojan provides a good example of what Harris offers: he made the game-winning two-point conversion return in a 34-33 win over Arizona State in November but picked up a penalty when he dove into the end zone, giving the Sun Devils an easy kickoff from the 45-yard line on the ensuing play.

Kiffin made it known he wasn't at all pleased with that.

Other darkhorse candidates to win the job include senior T.J. Bryant, redshirt freshman Anthony Brown and redshirt junior Brian Baucham. Patrick Hall, a redshirt freshman, would have been placed on that list had he not torn his ACL in an unofficial throwing session in June.

Remember, though, that when deciding on the second corner the coaches will also be determining -- or beginning to determine, at least -- the third and fourth corners. With h0w much Pac-12 teams will be throwing against the Trojans this season, the defense will more often than not be set up in a three-corner set.

For that reason, it's almost a guarantee that Burnett will be seeing the field regularly in some spot, as he's the biggest and best tackler of the bunch.

That's it for today. Tuesday we question how much the Trojans learned from 2010, specifically in regards to self-motivation without the possibility of a bowl game.

There are two Mondays left until spring practice officially kicks off for USC on March 22. On each of those Mondays, we'll preview one-sixth of the Trojans' depth chart and eye potential risers and fallers during the monthlong springtime. We began four weeks ago with quarterbacks and running backs and continued three weeks ago with receivers and tight ends, two weeks ago with offensive linemen and last week with defensive linemen. This week, we look at both linebackers and defensive backs as we begin to close up shop, keeping in mind that all freshman who can't practice until the fall are automatically at the bottom of the depth chart:

Strongside linebacker

1. Chris Galippo, redshirt senior
2. Ross Cumming, senior
3. Lamar Dawson, freshman (won't enroll until fall)
4. Charles Burks, freshman (won't enroll until fall)

Galippo could, honest to goodness, end up starting at any of three positions on the linebacking corps -- or all three, too. But the strongside is probably the most likely place he'll start off at at, simply because he's better built for the position than any of the Trojans' other linebacking options aside from Devon Kennard.

Cumming's a very valuable backup and perhaps the best special-teams player on the roster. Burks is a sure bet to redshirt; Dawson is not at all and could very well end up playing significant snaps in 2011 as a first-year freshman.

Middle linebacker

1. Devon Kennard, junior
2. Dallas Kelley, junior
3. Will Andrew, redshirt sophomore
4. Anthony Sarao, freshman (won't enroll until fall)

Kennard playing middle linebacker in 2010 wasn't exactly the hit the Trojans' coaching staff envisioned it being, but it makes a lot of sense at this point to stick with it and allow one of the team's smartest players to mentally adjust to playing one position and one position only.

This is not a done deal, though. He could play strongside too, and he could also drop down and play some defensive end at times. Neither of those would surprise me. Kelley, although undersized, was a nice get as a junior college player because of his physical development. Unlike Sarao and even Andrew, a walk-on, Kelley could presumably hold his own in a pinch in a game in the fall.

Weakside linebacker

1. Shane Horton, redshirt senior
2. Marquis Simmons, redshirt sophomore
3. Hayes Pullard, redshirt freshman
4. Tre Madden, freshman (won't enroll until fall)

Horton's one of the least-talked about seniors on this roster, a guy who Lane Kiffin openly -- and memorably -- called out for poor play in 2009 but went on to earn significant praise over the course of the year as a spot starter and valuable reserve. He won't be a world-beater if he ends up starting, but he screams serviceable piece who makes a lot of a sense as a stop-gap measure while Madden and Dawson ready for prime time.

Simmons and Pullard are both very inexperienced; Madden could redshirt but is not a guarantee.

Left cornerback

1. Nickell Robey, sophomore
2. T.J. Bryant, redshirt junior
3. Patrick Hall, redshirt freshman
4. Ryan Henderson, freshman (won't enroll until fall)

Robey's a surefire starter, an undersized player who took a chance the coaches gave him in fall camp last year and ran with it all the way to December, starting every one of the Trojans' 13 games and performing fairly well overall. He had his bad moments and bad games, but Robey showed shades of early ballhawk-ness and consistently impressed as a tackler.

Bryant had a disappointing year and is nearing full-on bust status in Troy. He needs a big-time season in 2011, probably as either a nickel or dime back, to save himself in the coaches' eyes. Hall has a lot of work to do to get to a point where he could see legitimate defensive snaps.

Henderson will likely redshirt.

Strong safety

1. Drew McAllister, redshirt junior
2. Jawanza Starling, junior
3. Dion Bailey, redshirt freshman

McAllister missed all of last season with a hip injury and was able to redshirt the year after he underwent surgery in October. He was one of the players who seemed forgotten in some circles last year but was really a sorely missed piece on the Trojans' defensive unit. He is, for all intents and purposes, their best playmaking defensive back, and it'll be interesting to see if he retains that specific skill after his return from injury.

Starling started until the Oregon game before losing his spot to Marshall Jones, but he could still play an important role this season. His main issue last year involved mistaken routes to tackle ballcarriers, and it troubled him often in most of USC's games. Fix that, and he could easily start.

Bailey's interesting, as he is also playing some strongside linebacker in winter workouts and sounds set on finding his way into the lineup this season at that spot, not on safety. But he's still small for the linebacker spot, and he's probably a better fit at safety in the long term.

Free safety

1. T.J. McDonald, junior
2. Marshall Jones, redshirt senior
3. Demetrius Wright, redshirt freshman
4. Tony Burnett, junior

McDonald is probably the best player on the entire defensive unit, a junior to-be who will enter the season as a top underclassman. He has everything NFL scouts like to see in a young player, including the smarts for the position, and he still retains some ability to grow into his lanky frame. He'll be the cornerstone of the defensive backfield.

Jones is another solid backup but also a guy who will be jonesing for starting snaps. He didn't do badly in his opportunities last year, but, with McAllister back in the fold, there isn't really an obvious spot for him to play in 2011.

Same for Wright and Burnett, two players who looked good in their limited opportunities last season -- Wright in practice and Burnett in the Notre Dame and UCLA games.

Right cornerback

1. Torin Harris, redshirt sophomore
2. Brian Baucham, redshirt junior
3. Anthony Brown, redshirt freshman
4. Isiah Wiley, junior (won't enroll until fall)

This is probably the most unsettled spot on the defense, with Harris maybe the leading candidate to start on opening day but also a leading candidate to frustrate Kiffin and the coaches again and again with his inconsistent play.

Baucham has yet to put it all together in what will now be his fourth year at USC, but he has the size and athletic ability to start -- as does Brown, who has impressed in winter workouts but is still very inexperienced. Wiley will come in as a junior but will assuredly be hurt by the fact that he wasn't able to qualify for spring enrollment.

Any of these four guys could end up starting come September.

That's it for today. We'll be back next week, just one day before the official start of spring practice, for a quick, concluding look at the special-teams units.

We've got three signings and a few whiffs to report.

First, USC has received the commitments of three prospects: offensive lineman Aundrey Walker (Cleveland, Ohio/Glenville), defensive tackle Christian Heyward (San Diego, Calif./Point Loma) and running back Buck Allen (Tallahassee, Fla./Lincoln).

Walker's signature mounts to a fairly big recruiting surprise. His high school is considered an Ohio State stronghold, but the 6-foot-5, 355-pounder chose the Trojans over the Buckeyes. He had visited USC alongside Lamar Dawson Jan. 14 and evidently grew more and more enamored with the Trojans over the last two-plus weeks.

Heyward was completely mum in the days leading up to signing Day, but he ended up picking the Trojans over San Diego State and Oregon. Announcing his decision live on KUSI-TV, he said he'll play either defensive end or under tackle for the Trojans.

Allen is a big back that could work well in combination with Dillon Baxter and D.J. Morgan in the future. He's also the third signee in four years to come to the Trojans from Lincoln after defensive backs Jawanza Starling and T.J. Bryant.

USC lost out on defensive tackle Delvon Simmons (McKeesport, Pa./McKeesport) and linebacker Branden Jackson (McKeesport, Pa./McKeesport), who picked North Carolina and Georgia Tech. The Trojans also missed out on tight end/defensive end Troy Niklas (Anaheim, Calif./Servite) and linebacker Kent Turene (Lauderdale Lakes, Fla./Anderson).

Athlete Marqise Lee (Gardena, Calif./Serra) is expected to make his announcement at noon on Fox Sports West.

Some items of note from coach Lane Kiffin's final Sunday conference call, which looked back at Saturday's season-finale win over UCLA and ahead to next season:

• USC's 2010 season ended Saturday night at around 10:45 p.m. The recruiting season then started early Sunday morning, with several Trojan assistants departing on recruiting trips and skipping out on the Trojans' formal end-of-year team dinner at University President Max Nikias' house in San Marino. Kiffin said he'd join them and get on the road Monday.

• As for specific recruiting goals, Kiffin said he hoped to get nine or 10 high-school seniors to enroll at USC in January and thus count as part of the 2010 recruiting class. Well, first he said he wanted "45" early enrollees -- but that was a joke. And he also indicated that getting nine or 10 players to come in early was easier said than done, too. And, position-wise, Kiffin said: “We have zero depth at all on the offensive line. And the linebackers, I don’t even know how we would line up if we had to play a game tomorrow.”

• Injury updates: Kiffin said both cornerback Torin Harris and offensive lineman Kevin Graf will require offseason shoulder surgeries. Kiffin was also asked if cornerback T.J. Bryant -- who underwent surgery on his injured labrum last month -- would be able to apply for a medical redshirt. He said Bryant, a junior, just missed out on it by playing in four of the Trojans' 13 games this season. The limit to receive a medical redshirt is 30 percent; four of 13 is 30.7 percent.

• Allen Bradford ended his USC career with a remarkable 212-yard, two-touchdown rushing day (259 yards overall). Kiffin, continuing to show an eye for what makes a good story, spotlighted that during the call. “It’s really a compelling story,” he said of Bradford's collegiate finale. “I’m glad our guys got to see that.”

Notes, quotes and video from Thursday's practice:

• Coach Lane Kiffin was again happy with his team's performance in a shorter morning session Thursday -- "another good day, three in a row," he said. He mentioned to his players, he said, how much USC fans care about the rivalry with Notre Dame and the importance in extending what is now an eight-game winning streak against the Irish. He reminded them of "all the hard work those players did before, over these last eight years in the offseason and everything to keep this streak alive, and now it's their turn."

• Matt Barkley took another step in his recovery from the sprained left ankle he suffered last week against Oregon State on Thursday, taking some snaps and making throws, Kiffin said, but backup Mitch Mustain continues to prepare as the starter. Said Mustain, who said he has not yet been told "explicitly" that he'll be the starter against the Irish: "There's always that wish for a little bit more time to practice, but that's just the progression of it. I'm ready to go now." Barkley, who wore a jersey top and sweatpants at practice, said he plans to suit up Saturday.

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Notes, quotes and video from Tuesday's practice:

• There was high praise thrown around on Howard Jones Field for a defense just three days removed from giving up 36 points to Oregon State, as Trojans coach Lane Kiffin called the defensive performance Tuesday the best he's seen since coming to USC in January and compared it to defenses of past years. “I don’t know what was said to them or got into them, but for the first time since I’ve been here they had a mentality in practice that was like the last time we were here, which was really neat to see,” Kiffin said. “You could see a different look in them. It’s what we’ve been trying to work for for a long time.” The thing is, the defense actually had one of its better games against the Beavers -- at least according to middle linebacker Chris Galippo, who noted that the Beavers had gained just over 200 yards more than halfway through the fourth quarter.

• Quarterback Mitch Mustain is preparing to start in the place of the injured Matt Barkley, but Kiffin has not committed to either player yet. Mustain took roughly 90 percent of the snaps during practice, with walk-on John Manoogian taking the remaining 10 percent. See everything Mustain had to say about his day further down in this post. Said Barkley of starting: "As of now, I’m planning on it. That’s what I’m planning on, so we’ll see." Behind Mustain, Kiffin indicated that the next player to come into a game would likely be the currently ineligible Dillon Baxter. We'll have more on the quarterback situation tomorrow, too.

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Notes, quotes and video from Thursday's practice:

• Coach Lane Kiffin had preached to his team earlier in the week that the effort they were exerting in practice wasn't enough. Thursday, he felt his message got through to them. "They were great today," he said after linebacker Chris Galippo called it one of the best practices of the season. "Great focus. Backups were focused. We just had to really make sure they understood how critical this was and also show them the other side of it. It was really good to see them today and now we’re going to have to continue to focus for the next 48 hours.”

• Running back Marc Tyler will start against the Beavers, Kiffin said, after the redshirt junior looked "really good" in practice Thursday, getting the majority of the first-team carries. It's a bit of an unusual move for Kiffin, who has in large part refused to name a starter at that position each week this season. But Tyler's performance Thursday, he said, made him realize that it was his job to lose. Senior Allen Bradford said that USC's frequent tendency to use multiple backs means that the reserve running backs could still get a chance to run it at Oregon State. "Whoever gets hot, that's who the coaches are gonna go with," Bradford said. "If a running back is getting nine yards a carry, then that's who is going to play."

• Injury report: safety Jawanza Starling (hamstring), center Abe Markowitz (foot), tight end Blake Ayles (concussion), cornerbacks T.J. Bryant (shoulder) and Torin Harris (shoulder) did not practice, along with Dillon Baxter, who was ill and hospitalized. Bryant and Harris both had MRIs on labrums in their shoulder; both are fine and should play Saturday, Kiffin said. Speaking to the media Wednesday, Bryant seemed to indicate that his labrum injury -- an aggravation of what he originally suffered in high school -- would put him out of commission this week, but Kiffin said otherwise. Players hurt earlier in the week who were full participants Thursday included cornerback Brian Baucham and receiver Brice Butler.

• On the topic of Baucham, Bryant and Harris, the Trojans are obviously very short on healthy players at the cornerback position this week. Kiffin said he was "very concerned" about depth at the spot, with only Nickell Robey and Shareece Wright healthy for a while now. USC is so thin at the position that freshman Anthony Brown, a prospective redshirt this season, was practicing with the first-team at times earlier this week. Said Kiffin: "Whoever is going to play is going to have to make plays for us against a very good passing offense.”

• The topic of all-black uniforms was brought up to Kiffin, with Washington sporting them against UCLA on television Thursday night. While coaching at Tennessee last year, Kiffin famously had his Volunteers wear black jerseys -- albeit with their normal orange pants -- and saw his team respond with a big home victory over South Carolina on Halloween night. But he didn't seem enthused about the prospects of the black working for the Trojans."I don’t see that ever happening here at ‘SC," Kiffin said. "We tried to get black socks here for our players here and that didn’t happen.”

• Final notes: Kiffin was asked if freshman receiver Robert Woods would ever be tried at cornerback again, as he was last month in the week before the Cal game. Said the coach: “That was going to be at one point, but when he got hurt in that Oregon game, that set us back. So now we’re just trying to get him back 100 percent on offense.”...USC will hold one last morning walk-through on Howard Jones Field before departing for Oregon at 2 p.m.

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Kiffin spoke to the media after Thursday's practice and appeared to be pretty pleased with his team's practice, talking over Oregon State's offensive attack and Jacquizz Rodgers specifically, plus a variety of other topics.

See all of what he had to say:



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USC linebackers coach Joe Barry has a history with Oregon State coach Mike Riley, having played at USC while Riley was an assistant.

Barry has high praise for the 57-year-old Beavers coach, disregarding OSU's so-so season so far this year and stressing that the Trojans must come to play Saturday.

See all of what Barry had to say in a one-on-one video interview Thursday, including his comments on the continued progress of linebackers Devon Kennard and Chris Galippo: