February 7th feels like eternity. So I'm gonna assume Feb 7th goes well for us in this super early forecast of 2018 season:

• 8-4 regular season
• Losses: @ Stanford, @ Texas, @ Utah, Notre Dame @ home.
• 7-2 conference record - easily win South Division
• We win Pac-12 Championship game (9-4 record)
• CFP Committee ranks us #10 for the bowl season

If Clay Helton does not win the Pac-12 Championship...then, CH & staff are long gone, goodbye. If we lose, as I predict, 2 out of the first 3 games Trojan Talk will be insufferable. For good reason. But it's asking too much for a Brand New QB, 2 starting WR's gone, Rojo RB gone, to beat @ Stanford & @ Texas in the early season. It's going to be keystone cops, a bit rough in our first 3 games. Need to set expectations early. Wazzu game is the beginning of promise and sunshine and hope.

The loss to Utah?...(well, I figured 2 conference losses. Who will they be? I almost picked @ Arizona but then that would mean Clay Helton would be fired mid-season, probably on the Tarmac. And I just can't go through another one of these mid season transitions.)

As to the late season Notre Dame loss. This was a very painful prediction. My wishful thinking is that the offense is much improved when we play Notre Dame. My realistic view is that the loss to ND & Ohio State last year exposed our fatal flaw when playing top-tier teams.

....is intriguing to most and disquieting to others.

It also is the time when a lot of names show up to complain about coaches, HC, and USC. Some primarily to do that disquieting thing. and also a little dissuading of Prospects

A word of praise to the guys who keep these boards so informed. Its a tough, tough, job with lots of misdirection from the prospects .

Solo....btw 9-10am
Griffin....10-11 am
D.Williams....11-12
(PT)

Analyst Murf Baldwin breaks down what makes USC commit Amon-Ra St. Brown the best WR prospect in the nation and a future star. (Note: This is a great read.)

St. Brown film study

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https://n.rivals.com/news/making-the-case-olijah-griffin

40% of the PAC 12 coaching staffs have been replaced, both Oregon and Arizona schools along with UCLA. I am wondering who you think will have the best results from these changes in terms of recruiting and player development?

with all the cuts at daily news....

USC's Martin Bahar checked in with 2019 Gilbert, Ariz. Perry HS PG Jalen Williams earlier this week. Williams is Ann emerging talent on the West Coast and someone I expect to eventually be in the Rivals150.

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I was thinking rock was dead but I am not kidding, there are some amazing tracks here. Right now i'm loving Beaches "Second of Spring." First track from The Asteroid Belt will remind of the Doors. Also, loving the feel of Dreamtime's Strange Pleasures record. Plus, find a better band name than King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard (previous sxsw fave names, "We Were Promised Jet Packs" from Scotland and "Dad's Porno Mag" from Seattle? or LA, cant' remember) - and their track is a fun listen.

https://daily.bandcamp.com/2017/10/04/australian-psych-bandcamp-guide/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_content=Australian Psych

Rock scene in Oz is much cooler than anything going on domestically these days and is one of the reasons I'm getting more sleep - nothing keeping me in the clubs until 2:00am 5 nights a week. More, i'm not seeing anything to excite me for sxsw this March - but that was upon first look, i may wind up paying more attention to the Ozzie stages/showcases and I wanna head to Australia for the tail end of festival season.
https://daily.bandcamp.com/2017/10/04/australian-psych-bandcamp-guide/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_content=Australian Psych

However, as a reminder for those that loved pure pyschadelic garage rock from yesteryear, not much is better than these guys from the San Fernando Valley (produced by the great Richie Podolor [Steppenwolf] -- The Electric Prunes [on the Dick Clark show]) from the late 60s:

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USC is still hanging around and recruiting Michael Ezeike. Ezeike holds a scholarship offer from USC but committed to Oregon earlier in the year. He backed off his pledge during the Taggart to FSU saga. This rekindling seems to be a more recent development though as Ezeike hasn't said much of anything about USC since he reopened his recruitment. But now Ezeike is taking an official visit to USC this weekend.

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Let's face it right now the split in party politics is among the worst I have ever seen. Looking at the actions unraveling in front of us (resistance, collusion, Intelligence department politics), there was a certain arrogance in the assumption that we would have 8 more years of the Obama progressive plans in place with Hillary.

"Boom" the voters said no. And for those that think the voters did not show up, sorry but 138 Million plus was higher than either of the 2 Obama won elections (121 Million and 129 Million respectively).
So some said they wouldn't attend the State of the Union speech. lots more people will likely not watch it, waiting for their trusted representatives to interpret it for them to follow (sad), instead of making their own determination. Maybe the "entertainers" of the Grammy can rap it out for us.

I think what most people want is still encapsulated best by the preamble to the constitution..
"We the people of the United States in order to form a more perfect UNION, establish Justice, insure Domestic Tranquility, provide for the common Defense, promote the General welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution of he united states of America."

Union- not division (hear that California?), Justice- not injustice, Peace- not war amongst ourselves, Defense- not capitulation, Welfare of all - not welfare for some. Liberty of thought -not dogmatic conformance. Those words are still good.

abiut this Bryson Washington kid transferring from Tx to Mater Dei? 2020 kid and 6’3”180 already. This team is dealing with firepower

if he doesn’t choose SC where do you think he ends up?

I know many of you follow class recruiting rankings with anything from curiosity to fervor, and I have always maintained that the ranking services are guilty of putting too much weight on quantity in their rankings. I offer the following as more proof of my position.

But first, I want a disclaimer as regards the biased and fictional rankings of Espin, which, as no one understands, is still part of any composite ranking system. Rankings of schools in which Espin has no financial interest, are dragged down in the rankings by Espin, which is nothing more than a SEC propaganda machine. Now, on to my main point.

Using SC, because we all love SC, as the focal point, I will prove my point. SC: #11 with 14 signed or committed players, of which ONE is rated at 3*.

#4: PSU - 23 total - NINE 3*

#5 Miami - 21 total - 7 3*

#7: Oklahoma - 22 total and TEN 3*

#9: Notre Dame - 22 total - 11 3*

#13: WASHINGTON - 19 and 10 3*

#15: OREGON - 21 & 10 3*

#18: ucla - 18 with 10 3*

None of the above listed classes even approach SC's 4.+ class rating, yet four of them are ranked above SC as of today, and Washington and Oregon are ranked close because of quantity.

Not to diss 3* kids. These individual ratings are suspect in many cases, because of something as basic as eyeballing, and we know that some 3* kids become 4* or even 5* in the course of their college careers. But on average, a high * number for a class on a consistent basis, usually results in conference championships and beyond.

Alabama did not accomplish their current run on the backs of 3* classes. They combined quantity with quality, something SC is doing, except that the sanctions effected the amount of kids SC could bring in. But SC's classes have been among the highest, if not the highest, in quality, and have been denied the so-called #1 spot, solely on quantity.

Someone I trust on the matter had this to say...

"(It) Sounds like he isn’t visiting (Washington) from what I’ve been told."

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USC’s official visit weekend consisted of three unsigned prospects from Mater Dei HS. Quarterback JT Daniels, wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and linebacker Solomon Tuliaupupu all made it to campus this weekend and according to who we talked to, the Trojans impressed.

According to a source close to Mater Dei’s football program, Daniels and St. Brown were given an overview of their future in the USC offense by Tee Martin and other coaches.

“They took them in the room and went over some concepts for the route running and quarterbacking, just trying to get them up to speed on things and tell them about that,” the source said. “They went out to eat and just had a good time.”

We were told that USC’s coaches understood that Daniels and St. Brown had already bought in with the program. The visit was more about what the prospects wanted to do and wasn’t a typical official visit with too much structure. This source said the two of them “appreciated that.”

The source said he believes Solomon Tuliaupupu had a good time as well, although he’s a bit more reserved and harder to judge. Despite that, our source thinks USC will sign him. When asked about recent conversations with Tuliaupupu about college, he said he believes USC is the frontrunner.

“If Solo doesn’t go to SC, I’ll be shocked, I’d be shocked,” the source said.

Notre Dame was a big factor at one point and a team our source could have seen the Irish winning for the Mater Dei linebacker. But staff changes have altered that perspective.

“The defensive coordinator is gone now,” the source said.

USC’s fiercest competition might come from across town. Tuliaupupu has been talking up the Bruins. Although, according to our source, that seems unlikely as well.

“He told me that he really likes UCLA but I think he said that just to stir the pot up,” the source said.

This person is also quite familiar with Servite defensive back Julius Irvin. Irvin took an unofficial visit to USC on Saturday and is apparently St. Brown’s best friend and has been for awhile. This source believes Irvin will commit to USC.

“He’s going to SC,” this source said. “I can’t see him going somewhere else.”

Another source more closely tied to Irvin tells us that his visit on Saturday went very well.

“He didn’t take an official but he said he did learn a lot about the academics which he never got a chance to see what they do and that kind of stuff,” a source familiar with Irvin said. “On a lot of these trips he wanted to do stuff like that. Like what are we doing academically, how does that help, not so much about the other stuff.”

Irvin will announce his commitment on Wednesday. He’ll choose from a list of Alabama, USC and Washington. Apparently two of those schools are stopping by soon to visit with him.

“Helton came out last week and I think they’re coming by today too,” the source said. “I think they’re coming by today, I know (Nick) Saban is coming by tomorrow.”

It’s also worth noting that Palaie Gaoteote also made his official visit to USC and had a great time according to his father. Oregon linebacker commit Eli’Jah Winston made the trip as well.

I've been told by most everyone I've asked that Anaheim, Calif. Servite HS DB Julius Irvin is expected to commit to Washington now.

Although Washington has been in serious contention for a long time, this was a bit of a late surprise for those around Irvin. USC has been a favorite school for the family and for him since well before he was a recruited football prospect.

What I've been told over and over again when asked about Irvin and USC is that he didn't feel like he was prioritized by the Trojans the way he should have been. He wanted to sign with USC in the early signing period and was told to hold off. That happened while being treated like a top priority by other prestigious football schools throughout his time being recruited. He and his family also watched the way USC recruited their friend, Amon-Ra St. Brown, and felt there was a difference. That feeling of not being a top priority turned out to be an issue for Irvin and his family. There's also uncertainty about how many scholarships USC will actually use in this class, which could turn out to be an issue for anyone who's unsigned and not named JT Daniels and Amon-Ra St. Brown.

There had been talk of Irvin's feelings recently but many around the family dismissed it because of how high USC stood for him and his family back in December. Some still believe Irvin might not be totally finished with his choice. He's been known to change his mind, it's been brought up by everyone I talk to about him. If the Trojans tell him he's a priority on signing day and obviously have a spot open for him, who know's what will happen?

Right now, he's apparently saying he favors Washington. The Huskies are currently on a great run with Chris Petersen and have a recent history of producing great defenses and NFL players. Irvin is also impressed with Washington's academics. He's been looking hard into that side of things recently. He also has a great bond with Jimmy Lake. So expect Irvin to pick the Huskies.

My take for USC is that the class still has the potential to be too big for the number of scholarships available. This will only really hurt USC if the Trojans can't close with the defensive backs. That being said, Irvin was probably the third best player in the Trinity League this year and whoever gets him is getting a great one.

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Chris or Adam:
While I was really hopeful that we would close strong towards signing day, some of the most recent news is not sounding as promising as once thought or hoped for. Even without many current spots open (which there will be), it looks like the following players are now really in question that we thought we had a really good shot at adding. Some guys are now gone and others are trending downward.
What do you think the likelihood now is on these last 5, Irvin committed today so he seems out.

Solo T.
D. Williams
J. Irvin
Sewell
ITS
O. Griffin

I continue to see people describe Helton as a moron for giving scholarships to walk on kickers that are precluding USC from filing its roster with other scholarship players. My understanding is that the kicker scholarships are not even relevant until the next school year beginning in September, which means they are not currently counting against our numbers and our numbers will change by 5-6 slots after spring when transfers are finalized. So, people making this complaint are not recognizing the relevance about what they are complaining about or at least the magnitude of their complaints. Can you clarify.