[Burlison] BIW, USC just seem to go together - Long Beach Press-Telegram
If you're a fan of the USC football program -- yes, there are a few of you out there -- and want a line on which high school players the Trojans will be signing to national letters of intent on Feb. 7, you've come to the right place.

A year ago Coach Pete Carroll's program signed 10 of the 20 first-team selections from the Press-Telegram's Best in the West team.

The Trojans may do even better than that on Feb. 7.

As of Saturday, 11 of the 20 first-team members of the 31st BIW squad have committed to USC...

And Carroll & Co. aren't through yet...

Kiffin's always been light years ahead of others his age - Oakland Tribune
...when Monte was the head coach at North Carolina State and had a weekly spot on a call-in radio show. Lane, 6, called the show and said if his dad could get a new contract, they could get a new blackboard for drawing plays.

Monte Kiffin said he remembers Lane watching him closely, drawing his own X's and O's, creating his own offenses and defenses.

"He loved challenges. Puzzles, Legos, creating things," Robin Kiffin said...

...By the time Lane was in high school, he was fluent in a football language that his teammates were just beginning to learn. He also was a point guard in basketball and played baseball, but was way ahead of the game in football...

Also, Kiffin's interview, for the record - Contra Costa Times
[Ostler] Is hard work enough to escape Black Hole? - SF Chron

[Shelburne] It's academic - LA Daily News
Taft of Woodland Hills linebacker Malcolm Smith verbally committed to USC on Friday, choosing the Trojans over Notre Dame and California.

Well, duh.

Malcolm's older brother Steve is one of the best receivers in USC history, and his best friend, Oaks Christian of Westlake Village running back Marc Tyler, committed to the Trojans last year. If ever there was a kid to safely put in the Trojans' column on signing day, it's Malcolm Smith...

...you know what finally sold him on USC?

His visit to the engineering department last weekend...

Also, Top recruits play the signing game - Sac Bee
USC offers scholarship to Grant lineman Tupou - Sac Bee

In a threesome for the ages, Lovemark does just fine - San Diego Union-Tribune
A generational change seldom shows itself in such a tidy package as a round of golf, but it did yesterday by presenting the threesome of Mark O'Meara, Phil Mickelson and Jamie Lovemark in the final round of the Buick Invitational...

...Lovemark, 19, of Rancho Santa Fe was playing in his second tour event as an amateur, and has made the cut both times...

...Mickelson and O'Meara stressed the importance of college to Lovemark. O'Meara said the lure of big money will tempt Lovemark to bail early from USC. But O'Meara told him his own high school and college years were the best times of his life. He advised him to have success at the college level, in the NCAAs, and at the U.S. Amateur and then think about turning pro...

Griffen a BIW sight to behold - Long Beach Press-Telegram
Like most everything else in life, when it comes to evaluating high school football talent, seeing is believing.

And when most of the seven members of the Press-Telegram s Best in the West advisory committee laid eyes on Everson Griffen of Agua Fria High in Avondale, Ariz., last spring, they were believers...

...he measured at just under 6-4, weighed in at 264 pounds and was clocked at 4.46 over 40 yards...

...For a 17-year-old defensive lineman who weighs 260-plus pounds, that's absolutely freaky...

...he's not just big and fast, either. He s very agile, has good technique and moves, and is absolutely relentless...

Also, 2007 Best in the West Football stats - Long Beach Press-Telegram
[Burlison] DE, QB top the latest edition - Long Beach Press-Telegram
Best in the West Timeline - Long Beach Press-Telegram
[Bollinger] Football recruiting is out of control - Daily Trojan
USC-bound lineman is Parade star - Tucson Citizen

Roth quite deserving of job offer - Scranton Times-Tribune
Now we might find out if it Pete Carroll can do it without him.

After two years on the University of Southern California coaching staff, Lackawanna Trail grad Yogi Roth is looking at a step to the big time. Lane Kiffin, USC’s former offensive coordinator and the Oakland Raiders new head coach, made an offer to Roth to become the assistant receivers coach with the Raiders. On Friday, USC made a counterproposal.

Now comes a big decision for the 25-year-old. Be sure of this: Roth will attack whatever job he has with a vigor that is unmatched.

“The philosophy at SC is to do whatever you do better than it’s ever been done before,” Roth said. “Hopefully, I did my job better than anybody before me. What’s crazy is you buy into that. Be the best in the world at it.”...

Also, Kiffin hires two for Raiders - Oakland Tribune
[Liotta] Kiffin a dark horse worth rooting for - SF Examiner

Carroll's a hit at spectacular - Desert Sun
As I entered the Esmeralda Resort ballroom for the third annual Uncle's Sports Spectacular benefiting the Barbara Sinatra Children's Center, I was greeted by YMCA executive Alison Elsner who said, "Welcome to the Trojan Club."...

...Was I in the wrong place? No, it was just that so many USC alumni are "Uncles" (major male supporters of BSCC) that they dominated the crowd of nearly 300 who were there to see the guest of honor, USC football coach Pete Carroll...

...Carroll was an entertaining speaker...

[Kawakami] The fate of two great teams hinges on one Norv Turner - SJ Merc
Alex Smith or Tony Romo? Jerry Jones or Mike Nolan? It's funny how things are breaking for Norv Turner these days, and how large his next decision looms.

Has it really come down to Norv determining the fate of two historic NFL franchises? It looks like it's heading that way...

...If, as I believe, Jones plans to install a short-term guy for 2007, then hunt for Bill Cowher, Jeff Fisher or Lovie Smith (all possible free agents) in 2008, Turner could roll with that, as long as he's compensated.

Turner was Fisher's position coach at USC, by the way...

Also, Fisher a 'coach' on '85 Bears - Robertson Couty Times

Game on - CNNSI
The practices are finished and NFL scouts, coaches and general managers are long gone. All that's left is to play the game. Yet even before the ball is officially kicked off, the script on which players came out of the '07 Senior Bowl as winners or losers has already been written.

Ten Prospects Who Exceeded Expectations...

...7. Ryan Kalil/C/USC: The Trojan blocker looked great on the pivot. Holding his own against bigger opponents, he showed a lot of unexpected skill blocking in motion...

Also, [Banks] Mock Draft No. 1 - CNNSI
Taking a bead on NFL draft - Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Global as a matter of course - LA Times
Qingyun Ma's eyes dart left and right as he sits in a Buick van hurtling west on National Highway No. 310.

The road swerves through China's dusty northwest plateau, passing honeycombs of cave dwellings and adobe homes on cliffs. Large arch bridges cross Wei River. Terraced fields, carved in hues of yellow, brown and green, climb up to the skies.

"It's so beautiful, amazing," Ma says. "This is better than any architecture. The peasants are the architects….

...I'm thinking of setting up a USC studio here. I want to continue the university program in a place where culture, landscape, modernity and hands-on construction meet."...