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Speedy Ga. four-star sets USC visit

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Dalen Penson is one of the fastest recruits in the country and he has offers to play anywhere from WR to RB to DB with a given school. USC jumped in with the Georgia Tech commitment earlier this month and now both sides have locked in a visit date for the final weekend of the cycle (Nov 30).

OT Dodgers… the good, the bad and the ugly

The Good:
- Starting pitching
- CT3, AJ, Fresh Prince, JT the Ginger, Mad Max
- Corey’s return
- 7/29 trade for Madder (German Tank Commander) Max and Trea
- Andrew Friedman, and the best front office in baseball.
- The Joe Kelly adventure
- Joe Davis
- Dingers
- the tweaker looking pitcher (forgot his name)
- Belly’s DEFENSE

The Bad:
- Injuries
- Subpar season for Mookie
- BA w/RISP
- The Joe Kelly adventure
- Middle relief in general
- Kenely’s inconsistent

The Ugly:
- Bauer
- 1 and 12 in extra inning games
- Blown Saves
- CODY BELLINGER AT THE PLATE!!!!!!!!

Visitor list: Five-star Jahkeem Stewart highlights USC visitor group for Nebraska game

USC hosts Nebraska this weekend and only has two more opportunities for official visit weekends during the season ahead of the early signing period, and the Trojans are looking to make the most of it. Five-star edge rusher Jahkeem Stewart is the headliner as he makes his planned official visit out to USC this week for the matchup with Nebraska, but the Trojans will have other defensive line targets on campus for official visits as well as some key 2026 recruits as well.

Here's the full list of this weekend's expected visitors when USC hosts the Cornhuskers.

Official visitors

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Football Wednesday practice of UCLA week

We got Jayden Maiava, Elijah Paige (first time in months), Kamari Ramsey and Kyle Ford talking about their UCLA ties, Woody Marks, Jaylin Smith and Greedy Vance.

Uploading now.

Maiava shared an anecdote that he had 40 family and friends back to his apartment for a cookout after the game Saturday night. He was otherwise very concise in his comments.

We’ll have a lot coming. I also have Tajwar’s column to finish editing and posting tonight.

My notes on SC’s 71-66 loss to Cal

The University of California Berkeley was established in 1868 as the state's first land-grant university and is the founding campus of the UC system. Cal has an endowment of $6.9 Billion and enrolls 45,307 students (32,479 undergrads). Their nickname is Golden Bears and their mascot is Oski the Bear. The WSJ ranks Cal 8th Best College, US News & World Report ranked Cal top public school (17th overall)

Famous Alumni include 36 Nobel Prize winners, Academy Award winning actor Gregory Peck, Actors Chris Pine, Stacy Keach, Jerry Mathers (Beaver Cleaver), Ashley Judd, John Cho; Will Vinton pioneer of ‘Claymation’, Doug Englebart inventor of computer mouse, Jay Miner father of Amiga computer, Microsoft billionaire Charles Simonyi, Dilbert creator Scott Adams, Chief Justice Earl Warren, Tom Anderson co-founder of MySpace, Crown Prince of Norway Haakon Magnus, Police drummer Stewart Copeland, Counting Crows Adam Duritz, Bangles Susanna Hoffs, Third Eye Blind’s Stephan Jenkins, Leroy Choi 1st Asian-American to perform spacewalk, Counter-culturalist Timothy Leary, Barry Kerzin personal physician to the Dalai Lama, Hearst Castle architect Julia Morgan, Rube Goldberg, TV producer Quinn Martin, American Idol contestant William Hung, etc.

Cal Athletics: 115 NCAA team titles & 290 individual titles, Olympic medals: 121 gold, 56 silver, 46 bronze. Medalists include Matt Biondi, Natalie Coughlin, Mary T Meagher, Missy Franklin, Anthony Irvin

Cal basketball began in 1907 (1676-1295, .564), 1959 NCAA Champions, 1960 Runners-up, 3 Final Fours, 19 NCAA Tournaments (last 2016), 15 regular season conference titles (last 2010), 2 AP 1st Team AA’s (Darrall Imhoff, Jason Kidd), 11 NBA 1st rd draft picks, 7 Pac-12 POY, 1 Pac-12 Defensive POY, 6 Pac-12 FOY. Retired Jerseys: No. 4 Alfred Grigsby (1991-97), No. 5 Jason Kidd (1992-94), No. 11 Kevin Johnson (1983-87), No. 40 Darrall Imhoff (1957-60)

Winningest Coaches: Nibs Price 1924-54 (449-294), Ben Braun 1996-2008 (219-154), Mike Montgomery 2008-14 (130-73), Lou Campanelli 1985-93 (123-108), Pete Newell 1954-60 (119-44, NCAA title)

Mark ‘Mad Dog’ Madsen (2nd season) is Cal’s 19th coach, and starred at rival Stanford, played for the Lakers and T-Wolves. Previous head coaching experience: Los Angeles D-Fenders (2013), Lakers asst (2013-19), Utah Valley (2019-23)

Cal had been a bottom feeder in the Pac-12 for 6 yrs but finished tied for 6th last season (13-19, 9-11) ahead of 9th place SC (15-18, 8-12). This 10-win improvement reinvigorated the fanbase and Madsen’s contract was extended through 2030. Cal’s first sellout crowd since 2017 witnessed Cal defeat SC in OT 83-77

Cal is currently a member of the 18-team Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) along with rival Stanford and Andy Enfield (SMU) – it’s just so weird! Cal is picked 16th, ahead of only Stanford and BC. Preseason predictions: Duke, UNC, WF, Clemson, UVA, Miami, Pitt, NC St, Louisville, Notre Dame, Syracuse, Ga Tech, SMU, VA Tech, FSU, Cal, Stanford, BC

All-time: 272nd mtg of SC vs Cal, Cal leads 138-134. SC is favored by 9.5 pts tonight

Cal is 2-1 (W: CSUB, Cal Poly; L: Vanderbilt), NET n/a, KenPom No.115

SC: 3-0 (W: UT Chattanooga, Idaho St, UTA) NET n/a, KenPom No. 77

Cal scores 79.3 ppg (+5.0), 45.3% FG, 35.7% 3FG, 7.5 3’s/g, 75.5% FT and averages 37.9 rebs (+4.1), 21.0 assists, 5.8 steals, 13.5 TOs (-0.3), 3.8 blks

SC scores 83.3 ppg (+11.7), 49.7% FG, 30.3% 3FG, 6.3 3’s/g. 72.1% FT and 28.0 rebs (-5.7), 14.8 assists, 7.0 steals, 8.3 TOs +8.0), 3.0 blks

Fun facts: Andrej Stojakovic is son of 13-yr NBA player/FIBA HOF member Peja. Mady Sissoko is brother of former WOT player Kadi Sissoko. Hugh Vandeweghe is nephew of 14-yr NBA player Kiki. Stephon Marbury II’s 2-time All-NBA father played 13 yrs, then 8 yrs in Chinese Basketball Association, where he is currently coach of the Beijing Royal Fighters

Cal has 3 double figure scorers: Stojakovic 17.0 ppg, 40.8% FG, 25% 3FG, 92% FT, Jovan Blacksher 16.3 ppg, 50% FG, 52.2% 3FG, 77.8% FT, BJ Omot 10.8 ppg, 44.4% FG, 35.3% 3FG, 62.5% FT

Dort Lee leads Cal w/ 8.5 rebs pg, Sissoko & Stojakovic 5.8; Blacksher 3.0 assts pg, DJ Campbell 1.3 stls pg, Sissoko 1.5 blks

Terrance Williams leads SC scoring at 18.0 ppg (70% FG, 50% 3FG, 100% FT), Claude 14.0 ppg (56% FG, 0-3 3FG, 82.4% FT), Cohen 14.0 ppg (66.7% FG, 0-2 3FG, 75% FT), Yates 12 ppg (53.8% FG, 23.1% 3FG, 100% FT, Agbo & Thomas 9.0 ppg, Knowling 8.0 ppg

Thomas leads SC with 6.3 reb/g and w/ 6.7 assists, Yates leads w/ 2.0 steals, Thomas 1.7, Cohen & Patton lead w/ 1.00 blks

Pregame

Nice size crowd in Founder’s for the return of Young Muss as guest speaker. He was very brief. Cal has 2 scorers with pro potential Stojakovic and Blackshear - we want to key on them. They also have 2 large bodied bigs. In practice they worked on boxing out and rebounding better. Asked how we will better defend 3s he said they worked on touching on the closeouts, keeping a hand in the eyeballs, “tagging” - closing out and then backing off to cut off drives.

For the first time this season, all players are available. Thomas is supposed to wear the mask for his broken nose but has been practicing w/o it.

The arena has an almost respectable crowd of 5466 fans. Surveying the house I spot Jacque Hill, pro tennis player Sloane Stephens (won 2017 US Open, No. 79 in world rankings, but reached No. 3 ranking in 2018) and members of the women’s volleyball team, fresh off their upset of No. 11 Oregon. I recognized Ally Batenhorst, Adonia Faumuina, Mia Tuaniga. I love beating the Phil Knights in any sport!

The Game

I don’t think I have ever seen this, both teams’ starters are comprised of transfers! SC sends out

Saint, T-Will, Cohen, Claude and Abgo. SC has lost the jump ball in all our games. Cohen has no hops, 6-ft-6 Claude will jump instead - we’re now 0-4 for jump balls.

This game was close from start to finish. There were 13 lead changes and 9 ties. SC’s biggest lead was 5 at 7:22 in the 1st half, and Cal’s was 6 pts at 15:18 after a 7 pt run. Saint never donned the mask in this one.

SC’s inability to guard small, fast PGs continued as Blackshear put up 18 pts in the first half and for the first time in his career Muss ran a zone defense on a few occasions to shore up the middle and put a Band-Aid on their lack of rim protection. They were much better in the 2nd half as Blacksheer would only get one additional pt, finishing with 19, second to leading scorer Stojakovic.

SC had 3 players score in double digits led by Claude with a 20 pts on 7-14 FG, 3-6 3FG (his first made threes of the season) and a costly 3-6 from the FT line as a pair of the misses came with 2:15 left in the game and SC down 66-64. Saint had 15 pts on 7-17 FG and 1-2 FTs but continues to be poor from long range going 0-4 on 3FG, a couple of which could be seen as poor choices for the game circumstances. Yates scored 10 pts on 4-10 FG, 0-2 3FG, 2-2 FT. I felt he should be on the floor more than the 16:23 Muss played him. He is one of our true shot creators.

SC still could have and should have won this game but after Saint scored two baskets while backing his opponent down to give SC the 64-63 lead at 6:30, SC made only 1 basket the rest of the game. They threw up misses on almost a dozen shot attempts and had those two critical missed FTs by Claude. They wasted their best defense of the game down the stretch.

SC shot 43.9% FG (25-57), 28.6% 3FG (6-21), 71.4% FT (10-14).

Cal shot 49.1% FG (27-55), 33.3% 3FG (7-21) and 76.9% FT (10-13).

Most of the other stats were fairly equal, but poor 3-pt shooting has been an issue. They expected more out of Agbo and Slajchert, whose poor defense kept him on the bench, so he could not replicate his 42% 3FG shooting from last season). This was a tough loss for Muss and SC. Their first game against Power 5 competition ended in a 71-66 loss.

SC and Cal are both 3-1 after this game.

Up Next: San Jose St, Wednesday 11/20 at 7 pm at Galen Center

Fight on! Beat the Spartans!

OT: Lakers

STEAL of the draft Dalton Knecht tonite in New Orleans…..

37 mins
10-17 FG (5-10 from 3)
7 rebs
And the 2 FT to seal it at the end

Lake Show completes the back to back roadies to get to 9-4….
AD is playing like an MVP.
LeBron is triple-doubling.
Knecht and Christie both playing more minutes and making more plays each nite.

JJ Reddick is making a POSITIVE change

Recruiting Where USC's commits landed in the new Rivals250 rankings

USC is No. 13 in the reshuffled Rivals recruiting rankings with 22 commits in this 2025 class (and counting)

Here's where USC's commits landed in the new rankings:

No. 37 -- four-star WR Jerome Myles (Draper, Utah), up 67 spots!
No. 88 -- four-star QB Husan Longstreet (Corona Centennial HS), down 5 spots
No. 104 -- four-star LB Matai Tagoa'i (San Clemente HS), no change
No. 117 -- four-star WR Corey Simms (St. Louis, Missouri), down 9 spots
No. 189 -- four-star OT Carde Smith (Mobile, Alabama), new to the Rivals250
No. 223 -- four-star LB Ty Jackson (Loxahatchee, Florida), down 28 spots

Three Trojans commits dropped out of the Rivals250, meanwhile ...

-LB Jadon Perlotte went from 214 to out and also got knocked down from four-star to three-star
-S Kendarrius Reddick went from 224 to out
-DE Gus Cordova went from 233 to out and also got knocked down from four-star to three-star

If you want to go down the what-could-have-been well, here are where some of USC's decommits now rank:

-No. 6 QB Julian Lewis (but USC ended up fine with that switch)
-No. 9 DT Justus Terry
-No. 13 DE Isaiah Gibson
-No. 23 S Hylton Stubbs
-No. 112 CB Shamar Arnoux
-No. 127 S Anquon Fegans (but that was a long time ago)
-No. 161 DE Hayden Lowe

Rivals250 targets still remaining:

-No. 168 DE Tobi Haastrup
-No. 248 DE Joseph Mbatchou
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Guess the Score Standings through ten games

Our Week 9 winner is a tie between @jcbraam and @RudyTheTrojan with a score of 1! Next best were @SC55OU19 and @Eight three with a score of 3.

Here are the updates standings through ten games. Remember, after Week 4 we drop each person’s two worst scores from the average provided they have participated all four weeks (or drop one score if a week has been missed). The bold scores are the scores that have been dropped.

remc (4, 15, 12, 4, 20, 17, 9, 7, 19, 14 )AVG: 10.25
Bed-NASH (30, 16, 12, 4, 19, 16, 13, 0, 16, 5 )AVG: 10.25
jcbraam (11, 21, 15, 8, 20, 22, 10, 9, 16, 1 )AVG: 11.25
JetLaggMatt (8, 21, 11, 4, 37, 8, 37, 14, 13, 13 )AVG: 11.5
tentm (16, 20, 22, 5, 22, 9, 17, 8, 16, 5 )AVG: 12
RudyTheTrojan (11, 18, 19, X, 26, 24, 17, 4, 2, 1 ) AVG: 12
SC55OU19 (18, 17, 15, 8, 19, 14, 16, 11, 13, 3 )AVG: 12.125
Bigtrojan78 (11, 26, 14, 4, 19, 15, 20, 14, 13, 10 )AVG: 12.5
trojan_a_1 (23, 20, 16, 7, 18, 9, 13, 1, 17, X )AVG: 12.625
Darcy Bug (11, 20, 16, 11, 22, 17, 16, 10, 14, 6 )AVG: 12.625
Larr212121 (16, 29, 12, 12, 22, 5, 14, 9, 29, 16 )AVG: 13.25
SCMATT (3, 14, 15, 11, 50, X, 20, 10, 20, 9 )AVG: 13.285
AlpineTrojan1 (15, 27, 12, 18, 19, 16, 10, 18, 14, 4 )AVG: 13.375
MrSC (11, 17, 21, 7, 33, 12, 23, 14, 17, 9 )AVG: 13.5
uclowns (4, 23, 22, 7, 37, 14, 34, 9, 24, 10 )AVG: 14.125
Kdub8791 (11, 28, 33, 4, 26, 12, X, 7, 19, 7 )AVG: 14.25
charmac (15, 24, 25, 8, 29, 16, 17, 15, 14, 7 )AVG: 14.5
187Bruins (21, 17, 12, 15, 20, 19, 24, 8, 16, 10 )AVG: 14.625
The Neutral Observer (3, 20, 23, 10, 15, 15, 13, 19, 35, X )AVG: 14.75
Clay Helton (43, 17, 15, X, 29, 15, 22, 15, 2, 4 )AVG: 14.875
Jack53 (19, 14, 22, 8, 29, 17, 9, X, 18, 14 )AVG: 15.125
ddones10 (25, 23, 18, 4, 16, 11, 16, X, 23, 11 )AVG: 15.25
Sc-raza (22, 31, 22, 8, 19, 12, 20, 14, 24, 7 )AVG: 15.5
Ayedoc (29, 22, 23, 7, 26, 20, 19, 9, 17, 8 )AVG: 15.625
HI50trojan (8, 18, 21, 16, 20, X, 21, X, 16, 6 )AVG: 15.75
msterlingrundy (25, 17, 29, 11, 25, 11, X, 7, X, 6 )AVG: 16.375
555heiden (12, 10, 19, 17, 30, 23, 21, X, 17, 13 ) AVG: 16.5
tlevyn (16, 17, X, 11, 22, 37, 34, 11, 17, 5 )AVG: 16.625
cj (7, 17, 29, 11, 23, 19, 34, 18, 20, 20 )AVG: 16.875
Eight three (16, 19, 22, 15, 22, 24, 27, X, 14, 3 )AVG: 16.875
prime88 (40, 28, 12, 9, 29, 16, 23, 4, 21, X )AVG: 17.75
sdthomas (26, 25, 23, 15, 15, X, 25, 21, 15, 4 )AVG: 17.875
usc7137 (24, 21, X, 14, 22, 11, 27, X, 13, 14 )AVG: 18.25
Kylerkeener (56, 23, 19, 14, 13, 22, 44, 27, 16, 26 )AVG: 20
cramwetzel (30, 21, 34, 12, 31, 24, 35, 8, 29, 13 )AVG: 21
seattledoc (29, 29, 22, 10, 30, 17, 20, 29, 14, X )AVG: 21.25
OUT
sbeanes (22, 21, 19, 7, 30, 18, 31, X, X, X )
ericsanford (18, 21, 22, 7, X, 17, X, X, X, X )
jogonzalnt (14, 20, 16, 11, 26, X, X, X, X, X )
blown55 (26, 22, 30, 2, X, X, X, X, X, X )
robodoc23 (X, X, 33, X, X, X, X, X, X, X )
JG911 (X, X, 20, X, X, X, X, X, X, X )
FilltheColi (18, 27, 15, 12, 30, 17, 6, X, X, X )
Trojan Ace (24, 16, X, 6, X, X, X, X, X, X )
usc310 (X, X, 18, X, X, X, X, X, X, X )
jerrybed (9,X, X, X, X, X, X, X, X, X )
theealbs (X, X, 15, X, X, X, X, X, X, X )
trojan_power (12,X, X, X, X, 18, X, X, 17, 48 )
engeo11 (X,17, X, X, X, X, X, X, X, X )
tomj85 (X, 29, X, X, X, X, X, X, X, 50 )
Trojan OG (19,X, X, X, X, X, X, X, X, X )
having (20, X, 17, X, X, X, X, X, X, X )
sca88 (21,X, X, X, X, X, X, X, X, X )
SCtrojan2k2 (22,X, X, X, X, X, X, X, X, X )
consciousBE (30,X, X, X, X, X, X, X, X, X )
Bbcoolb (26, 14, 29, 4, 29, X, X, X, X, X )
JealouSC (X,31, X, X, X, X, X, X, X, X )
jomolina (32,X, X, X, X, X, X, X, X, X )
FreeReggieBush (24,X, X, X, X, X, X, X, X, X )
TrojanGiftHorse (11, X, 40, X, X, X, X, X, X, X )
cwmagdog (X, X, X, X, X, 39, X, X, X, X )
CRDUSC93 (27, 13, 26, X, X, X, X, X, X, X )
nfoster1617 (26, 23, 22, X, X, X, X, X, X, X )
dbcraig (31,18, X, X, 30, X, X, X, X, X )
highnoon2 (29, X, 26, 32, X, X, X, 13, 16, X )
rhinsd (X, X, X, X, X, 23, X, X, X, X )

Football Tuesday practice of UCLA week: Lincoln Riley and D'Anton Lynn interviews

We only got Lincoln Riley and D'Anton Lynn today -- all player interviews will be tomorrow.

Riley said the team's flu problem got worse this week and he was hopeful today was the peak of it. Riley himself sounded like he was battling it.

Lynn mentioned vaguely that he's been working without some guys this week but didn't specify.

He also tamped down the questions about facing UCLA, saying he's moved around a lot in his career so it's not that big of a deal.

Videos uploading, story coming.

Taj/Ryan - Couple Questions

Amazing 1st and 10, as usual. Thanks so much for these and thanks Ryan for getting it up so quickly this week!!

Some questions for both of you:

1) Ryan - is there any way you can ask Lincoln about the pass rush? Specifically, he said that some of the younger DL earned more PT after the Utah State game, but we haven’t seen that come to fruition. What does Kam Fountain or Jide Abisari need to show in order to get an opportunity?

2) Taj - have you studied our individual Edge players recently in pass rush situations, specifically Lucas, Shelby, Jamil, Solo? Why aren’t they able to generate any semblance of consistent pressure? Is it scheme, coaching, or what? I just don’t get how some DE on Boston College can have 8.5 sacks so far this year and Anthony Lucas has zero.

3) Thinking back the past two seasons, are there examples you can remember of younger players earning more PT over the course of the season without requiring an injury ahead of them to do so? Point being, I’m just still kind of skeptical that LR is going to let someone like a Joyner, Fountain, Zion Branch, Celles Williams, etc. get significantly more PT over more entrenched veterans even if they provide more upside. Has he ever shown us he’s willing to do this at USC? Joyner specifically absolutely deserves more carries (he only had 6, to Woody’s 19) despite clearly being more effective. Whats up with that?

Football Where USC's true freshmen stand re: redshirt limits

This was requested earlier. Here is a look at how much each of USC's true freshmen have played and where they stand with the four-game redshirt rule ...

CAN'T REDSHIRT NOW
LB Desman Stephens II (8 games ... 94 snaps) **USC lists him as playing in 6 games, PFF says 8
RB Bryan Jackson (8 games ... 74 snaps) **USC lists him as playing in 7 games, PFF says 8
TE Walker Lyons (6 games ... 98 snaps) **USC lists him as playing in 5 games, PFF says 6
DT Jide Abasiri (5 games ... 52 snaps)

TOUGH CALLS
LB Elijah Newby (4 games ... 32 snaps) ... Had taken on a steady role on special teams the previous four games but did not play vs. Rutgers, so likely redshirting?
DE Kameryn Fountain (3 games ... 58 snaps) ... This will be an interesting one to monitor.

SURELY REDSHIRTING
OL Justin Tauanuu (2 games ... 16 snaps)
CB Marcelles Williams (1 game ... 21 snaps)
CB Braylon Conley (1 games ... 10 snaps)
S Marquis Gallegos (1 game ... 1 snaps)
TE Joey Olsen (1 game ... 1 snap) **USC lists him as playing in 0 games, PFF says 1
DE Ratumana Bulabalavu (1 game ... 1 snap)
WR Xavier Jordan (0 games)
S Jarvis Boatwright (0 games)
DT Carlon Jones (0 games)
LB Lorenzo Cowan (0 games)
OL Kalolo Ta'aga (0 games)
OL Hayden Treter (0 games)
OL Makai Saina (0 games)
LB Jadyn Walker (0 games)
TE Walter Matthews (0 games)
CB Isaiah Rubin (0 games)

Football PFF grades, snap counts and advanced stats from USC-Nebraska

Offensive snap counts (68 total plays):

QB Jayden Maiava 68, LT Elijah Paige 68, LG Emmanuel Pregnon 68, C Jonah Monheim 68, RG Alani Noa 68, RT Mason Murphy 68, TE Lake McRee 66, RB Woody Marks 50, WR Zachariah Branch 40, WR Kyron Hudson 38, WR Kyle Ford 32, TE Walker Lyons 30, WR Duce Robinson 30, WR Makai Lemon 29, RB Quinten Joyner 18, WR Ja'Kobi Lane 6, TE Kade Eldridge 1.

-That was the most snaps Joyner had played since the Wisconsin game, and his 7 carries (for 19 yards) were his most since Utah State.
-That was a season-high snaps for Lyons, who hadn't played more than 18. USC used a lot of two-TE sets Saturday.
-We talked about Lane's usage on the board, but the prevailing presumption is that he was benched to start the game due to his Twitter rantings after the QB switch. He did not play the first quarter and was out there at the start of the second. Lincoln Riley was asked afterward if Lane was sick -- Riley mentioned much of the team had the flu -- or if it was a coach's decision to limit his role. Riley sidestepped it pretty well, saying, "No, yeah, we've had a lot of people under the weather. There's honestly more that are than not, so our building looked like a little bit of a mash unit the last couple of days, so no, hopefully we can get some of these guys healthy from that. We were definitely fresher today, but we missed some key bodies and guys that, there was a lot of guys that weren't 100 percent and we had to adjust some of the reps because of that." So take from that what you will.

Top-graded offensive players:

1. LT Elijah Paige 80.0
2. WR Duce Robinson 79.8
3. RB Woody Marks 72.8
4. WR Kyron Hudson 69.1
5. WR Kyle Ford 65.9
6. C Jonah Monheim 64.2
7. RT Mason Murphy 63.0
8. QB Jayden Maiava 62.3
9. RB Quinten Joyner 61.6
10. WR Zachariah Branch 56.4

Notes ...

-That marked Elijah Paige's highest PFF grade all season, his highest pass-blocking grade (83.9) and highest run-blocking grade (74.7). He did not give up a single pressure or commit a penalty for the first time all season.
-USC gave up 8 pressures total -- 3 from Mason Murphy, 2 each from Emmanuel Pregnon and Alani Noa and 1 from TE Lake McRee. Officially, Jayden Maiava was sacked once, but PFF didn't assign that sack to any of the linemen.
-USC wasn't much more aggressive passing downfield than it has been as Maiava was just 3 of 6 on passes of at least 20 yards, for 97 yards and a TD. Of his 35 attempts, more than a third (12) were behind the line of scrimmage and another 9 less than 10 yards downfield.
-When Maiava wasn't blitzed, he completed 15 of 20 passes for 175 yards, 2 TDs and 0 picks. When blitzed, he was 10 of 15 for 84 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT.
-Woody Marks went over the 1,000-yard mark -- the first Trojans RB to do it since Ronald Jones in 2017 -- as his career-high 146 yards pushed him to 1,024 for the season. He's averaging 5.9 YPC overall and hit 7.7 YPC vs. Nebraska. Marks' six 100-yard rushing games are the most of any RB in Riley's time at USC.
-Marks became just the third running back over the last two seasons to rush for 100 yards vs. Nebraska.
-He only caused one missed tackle Saturday, but he had 52 yards after contact.
-Here was the targets distribution: Zachariah Branch 9 (6 catches for 41 yards and a TD), Kyron Hudson 6 (3 catches for 35 yards, TD), Marks 6 (6 catches for 36 yards), Duce Robinson 5 (4 catches for a career-high 90 yards, TD), Kyle Ford 3 (2 catches for 28 yards), Makai Lemon 2 (2 catches for 15 yards), Quinten Joyner 1 (1 catch for 5 yards), Lake McRee 1 (1 catch for 9 yards).
-Branch tied a season-high with those 6 catches and scored his first receiving TD of the season (3rd career).
-Robinson is now tied with Ja'Kobi Lane for the team lead with 5 receiving TDs.
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Football Scholarship distribution chart UPDATED July 25

It's a mess given the NCAA freezing eligibility clocks for every player this year. As of now, more than half the scholarship players are officially classified as freshmen/redshirt freshmen. I asked USC how they planned to label guys on the roster next year -- if 2020 sophomores would remain 2021 sophomores or be acknowledged as juniors -- and I was told a final decision hadn't been made yet and that it could be up to each sport's coach and their preference. For now, nobody's classification moved, but since seniors/redshirt seniors who choose to return won't count against the 85 they are moved to a separate column and there presently are no official "seniors" on the chart.

If any of that is confusing to anyone, I'm happy to try to explain it a different way, so don't hesitate to ask me if you don't understand.

TrojanSports - USC Scholarship Distribution Chart (rivals.com)
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