Here's the details on USC's memorial service for Craig Fertig on Oct. 20.
Time to submit a question for Pete Carroll. One question will be selected. Deadline is Thursday at 3 p.m.
Here's two relevant answers on players by Pete Carroll today.
Q. Any update on Allen Bradford?
CARROLL: I just talked to him. He feels better. He's going to try to do some stuff today. He's still bothered. He still has this nagging hip thing that's holding him back.
But there has been times where he could get back, but he can't last. We'll see what happens today. We're going to be very careful with him. We need to try to get him well and get him over it instead of just kind of limping his way along.
This could be an injury to him that could last a long time. So we have to take care of him there.
Q. And Vidal Hazelton?
CARROLL: He's okay. He's fine. He's ready to go. Michael Morgan is not going to practice today, I got the word...he did some stuff yesterday, he can't have any contact today. So we'll have to wait and see what happens with Mike, too.
A question about Mitch Mustain here. Looks like ``Mitch and Me'' could be revived after all.
Normal service has resumed. Only football questions here.
In case you missed the Morning Buzz, there was a slight shift in the defensive line during Monday's practice, with Kyle Moore moving to defensive tackle while Clay Matthews and Everson Griffen played at end and Fili Moala remained at nose tackle.
Warning: Only Photoshop questions in this segment. You've been warned.
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I don't know how photographers materialized out of thin air for what was originally going to be a simple cell phone picture. But here's another high-quality picture sent out way courtesy of photographer Dave Samarzich.
Vidal Hazelton gets an MRI today on his sprained ankles as his status remains a question.
D.J. Shoemate said he did not play against Oregon. We checked because we wanted to make sure when he was not listed on the participation chart. But Shoemate, now playing fullback, said he is not redshirting.
It looks like Stafon Johnson could be taking over punt returning duties from Joe McKnight although Pete Carroll did not make any official announcement.
``I don't know, we'll work it through the week here,'' Carroll said. ``Stafon looked better today.''
Mark Sanchez is optimistic he can play although he did not practice Monday.
``I feel a lot better than I thought I would,'' Sanchez said. ``I'm walking around fine. It's good. I think the swelling is down.''
Pete Carroll was slightly less certain.
``He's got the swelling issue. It's not too bad. We have to prepare Mitch to play.''
Rey Maualuga is also day-to-day while Michael Morgan (concussion) ran but did not practice. Allen Bradford (hip) is uncertain and still could require surgery.
Arizona State coach Dennis Erickson discussed the game today.
USC goes for its 400th victory at the Coliseum this Saturday. Did I already use the, ``ah wonderful . . . '' punchline? Darn.
The Pac-10 reprimanded Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh for his comments about the officiating during the Notre Dame game. Here is the statement:
Remember back when the wide-receiver rotation was larger than the tailback rotation?
I'm getting emails from people who said they miss Lawry's at the Coliseum, so if you feel that way, you are not alone.
The broadcast crew for the Arizona State game is Terry Gannon, David Norrie and Todd Harris. Doesn't ABC realize Stacey Dales should be working every USC game?
Here's a couple looks at former USC quarterback Craig Fertig.
The best story I ever heard was that when he coached at Oregon State, the Beavers played UCLA on a cold rainy day in Corvallis. Fertig made the players come out to the warmups without wearing any long-sleeve shirts under their jerseys.
When Bruins coach Terry Donahue saw this, he ordered his team to remove their undershirts when they returned to the locker room. But when Oregon State emerged from the locker room for the kickoff, the Beavers suddenly were wearing long-sleeve undershirts.
This segment is brought you by Caesar TV, which promises to bring free entertainment to the masses (not available in Corvallis, Ore.).
Only football questions in this segment, folks, that should please some people.
USC quarterback Mark Sanchez became the sixth player in school history to be named Pac-10 player of the week three times, at least since records became available in 1984.
Here is the list.
2008--QB Mark Sanchez
2005--TB Reggie Bush
2002--QB Carson Palmer
1998--CB Antuan Simmons
1992--WR Curtis Conway
1988--QB Rodney Peete
This segment includes a question about who is redshirting.
Here's the grades for Saturday's game.
Did you know that in 1968, O.J. Simpson set the school record for most rushes in a quarter (20). It took Stafon Johnson three games to get 20 carries.
It's the time of the week again. You can still ask a question by scrolling down to the Open Forum area if you have not asked one.
USC slipped in a top 25 despite winning by 34 points. Maybe the blowout only made people more upset about the Oregon State loss.
Freshman wide receiver D.J. Shoemate did not play against Oregon, at least according to the participation chart. Now the chart's been wrong before this season, so we'll have to check, but it's worth looking into because it would be the second straight game he did not play.
The official BCS rankings will not be released for two weeks, but with the Harris and Coaches' Polls available, and five of the six computer rankings out, BCS Guru Jerry Palm has USC seventh in his BCS rankings. Of the six teams ranked above USC, Oklahoma and Texas play each other this weekend, Missouri hosts No. 17-ranked Oklahoma St., LSU travels to No. 11 Florida, Penn State is at Wisconsin and Alabama is idle.
USC coach Pete Carroll said he favored the current running-back rotation.
``It worked out really well,'' Carroll said. ``Stafon (Johnson) ran really well inside. Getting Joe (McKnight) in space was really helpful. (Johnson's) just a good player. The cut he makes (on his 22-yard touchdown) is a phenomenal cut. It was every bit as good as Reggie (Bush) made against Fresno State.''
``Joe played really well and was explosive on the perimeter. He had five or six really nice plays.''
Tailback Allen Bradford's battled a sore hip for about a month, Pete Carroll said tonight. Carroll said it's similar to injuries to Jeff Byers and Mike Reardon, who tore their labrums and were out for a year following surgery.
Carroll said USC will wait to see if Bradford's pain decreases before it gets to the point where surgery is an option.
Quarterback Mark Sanchez underwent an MRI and has a bone bruise in his knee. There is no ligament damage. He will not practice tomorrow and is day-to-day. Pete Carroll said he expects Sanchez will play. If he cannot, Carroll said Mitch Mustain would probably start.
USC committed 12 penalties for 114 yards. Among the notables: Tight end Anthony McCoy drew two holding penalties while wide receiver Travon Patterson was called for holding the second straight game. Wide receiver Patrick Turner also held. Freshman T.J. Bryant picked up his first pass interference penalty. Defensive end Clay Matthews roughed the holder on a field goal and defensive end Kyle Moore roughed the passer.
And there was a too many men on the field penalty.
Did anyone else think Stafon Johnson had more than seven carries? It's hard to believe he had just the third-most carries against Oregon behind C.J. Gable and Joe McKnight. I'm still not buying into this tailback-by-committee thing.
Which true freshmen played, according to the participation chart?
T.J. Bryant, Drew McAllister, Uona Kaveinga, Tyron Smith, Blake Ayles, Jurrell Casey, Armond Armstead and Malik Jackson.
Mark Sanchez was ready to challenge Carson Palmer's school record of 448 yards passing before getting injured, but some of his incompletions were among the worst passes he threw all season.
Sanchez said the bad passes were attributed to ``miscommunications,'' the ``rain,'' and ``pressure.''
The Sagarin Rankings, one of the computer services used by the BCS, generates multiple rankings. In one, which is used by the BCS and does not consider margin of victory, USC is ranked No. 16.
In Sagarin's "Predictor" ranking, which does include margin of victory, USC is No. 1 by a considerable margin. In fact, USC is so highly rated in the "Predictor" that theoretically it should be a favorite over any college team, anywhere.
USC's next opponent, Arizona State, is 64th in the "Predictor", more than 30 points behind USC. Maybe that should make USC fans nervous.
In the course of duty, I decided to spend time with the Oregon cheerleaders Saturday and tell the girls how popular they are with the readers. And they couldn't be friendlier. Same goes for their head coach, Laraine Raish. Luckily, Joe Andras of WeAreSC,com was nearby to take a great picture.
Here's this week's Top 25 ballot for the Associated Press poll.
All the tickets were sold, but not everyone showed up. The official attendance was 82,765. That represents the smallest turnstile count for a Trojan sellout at the Coliseum since December 6, 1930. On that date, in a pre-Olympics Coliseum, 73,967 fans attended what turned out to be Knute Rockne's last game, a 27-0 Notre Dame victory over USC.
``You've got to catch the ball, that's rule No. 1. You can't give away the possession.''
USC tailback Stafon Johnson on his top priority when returning a punt.
I was told by the Oregon cheerleaders that fans were throwing their addresses at them from the stands during the game.
Linebacker Michael Morgan suffered a concussion and quarterback Mark Sanchez bruised his knee.
But for a different reason.
``I'm still bitter about how it played out,'' Pete Carroll said. ``We just weren't right. We didn't handle it well. I loved this win tonight but I'm still (upset) about last week.''
Oregon coach Mike Bellotti was not thrilled that USC called a deep pass on the 59-yard touchdown from Mitch Mustain to David Ausberry with 1:50 remaining.
``That surprised me,'' Bellotti said. ``I don't get that. I guess they think there is still a margin of victory.''
So what did you think? I will say this: At least Joe McKnight did not return any punts after that fumble.