It's a Professional Atmosphere - LA Times
...football fans can still get one last look at Heisman Trophy winners Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart and other NFL-bound Trojans today during USC's annual pro day.

Nineteen players, including Bush, Leinart, running back LenDale White, offensive tackle Winston Justice and safety Darnell Bing, will be evaluated by several hundred NFL scouts, coaches, player personnel executives and perhaps a few owners in preparation for the April 29 draft.

The Houston Texans, who own the first pick in the draft, requested 10 credentials to the workout...

...Adding another layer to what is certain to be an interesting scene: Carroll has designated Sunday as "junior day," when high school prospects and their families will tour the campus.

"As much as anything it makes it a fun day here; the more activity the more memorable it will be," Carroll said...

UA-USC moved to Sunday for ESPN - Northwest Arkansas Times
To accommodate ESPN, Arkansas and Southern California will open their 2006 football season in a rare Sunday night game.

Last scheduled for Saturday Sept. 2 after being moved from an original Sept. 9 date, the game now is scheduled for Sept. 3, the Sunday night before Labor Day, at Reynolds Razorback Stadium...

...Arkansas coach Houston Nutt said Friday that Arkansas has granted ESPN’s request to move the game...

Different team in Coliseum for scrimmage - LA Daily News
...The Trojans hold a situational scrimmage with a roster that barely resembles last year's team, or more importantly, what is expected to be next season's team after being hit hard with injuries.

"I don't think we've been this thin or had a spot where we didn't have anybody before," USC coach Pete Carroll said.

Specifically, USC will play without a tailback...

Booty's Surgery a Success; Sanchez Continues to Shine - LA Times
...Booty, who began spring practice as the front-runner to start the opener against Arkansas on Sept. 2, is expected to be ready in time for the start of training camp the first week of August. But redshirt freshman Mark Sanchez clearly is seizing the opportunity to make a run at becoming Matt Leinart's successor.

Based on his performance through seven workouts, Carroll said, Sanchez could start if the Trojans were playing a game next week...

[Celizic] Leinart skipping NFL to dance ... - MSNBC
After much soul-searching, 2004 Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart has decided to forego a career in the NFL and pursue his true passion, ballroom dancing. The shocking news was learned exclusively by MSNBC.com late Thursday and confirmed by the quarterback...

[Dr. Z] It's not personal ... it's personnel - CNNSI
During the league meetings in Orlando I sat down for a deep-cover type of conversation with my favorite NFL executive...

..."Is Leinart another Peyton Manning in 1998?" I asked my man. "The safest pick among the quarterbacks?"

"Except for one thing that makes me nervous about him," he said. "Manning had an intense work ethic on and off the field, and I don't sense it about Leinart...that could change by the time camp starts."...

...The second-best tackle projection is Winston Justice of USC. Potentially a top 10 selection?

"A risk," says my man...

Leinart should be Titans' pick - Jackson Sun
...at this point, the Titans need a sure thing - or the closest they can get. With that said, Leinart should be the team's quarterback of the future.

The Titans will send Reese, head coach Jeff Fisher and offensive coordinator Norm Chow to attend Leinart's Pro Day in Los Angeles on Sunday. That group will stay in L.A. on Monday for a private session.

If Leinart's workout goes as expected, pencil him in as the No. 3 pick this season...

100 Greatest Finishes, part 2 - College Football News
...No. 47 USC 45 ... UCLA 42, November 17, 1990...The firefight couldn't end without a final big drive...Morton made a leaping catch for a touchdown with :16 to play...

...No. 20 USC 28 ... Oklahoma 24, September 26, 1981...USC TE Fred Cornwell thought the pass was for him and tipped it away with nine seconds to play.

No. 4 USC 34 ... Notre Dame 31, October 15, 2005...Leinart chose to try to sneak it in for what would be USC’s final play no matter what the outcome...

Booty to have surgery - LA Daily News
..."There are no rules here," he said. "We'll just keep going. Unfortunately for John David, he wasn't able to establish himself (because of the injury). It's going to be very competitive in the fall.

"Mark's got to take it as he's the starting quarterback until he isn't...

...Booty's uncertainty also increases the role of third-string quarterback Mike McDonald for spring drills and possibly incoming freshman Garrett Green.

"This is a reality check and there's a sense of urgency about the situation," Carroll said...

Booty to Have Surgery Today - LA Times
...Carroll said the surgical solution would eliminate the unpredictable nature of Booty's condition. Booty suffered from back spasms as a high school sophomore at Evangel Christian Academy in Louisiana and also during his first training camp at USC in 2003.

"The idea is even if he recovers right now [without surgery] he'll still be on the verge and we won't be able to predict when it might go again," Carroll said...

...Carroll...said he would not announce a starting quarterback at the end of spring practice, which means the Trojans will go through the summer and the start of training camp without a designated leader.

"John David did everything to get ready for this camp and this thing just popped up so he hasn't lost his job or anything like that," Carroll said. "I can't look at it in that way at all...

...Carroll is hoping that Booty will be sound by July so he can work out before training camp begins the first week of August...

Trojans QB Booty to have back surgery - OC Register
USC quarterback John David Booty will have back surgery Friday, and Trojans coach Pete Carroll said today that he will not select a starting quarterback during spring practice.

Booty has been out since the first day of spring drills, and Carroll said team doctors determined that he needed surgery to repair a bulging disk in his back. Booty will be operated on by back specialist Dr. Robert Watkins and is expected to need 8-12 weeks to recover...

USC's White wonders 'What if?' - USA Today
...He doesn't need the burden of regret slowing him.

"What I went through at USC, the things I've learned, the things I've experienced, the championships I've won, those things you can't replace," says the 6-2, 235-pound back. "I can't compare it to anything else, but that experience was the best thing I've been through.

"If Reggie would have played by himself, look at his numbers. There are a lot of things you can say. I think being in that situation was best for me. I'm healthy. My body is not as banged up as it would have been if I was getting all those carries. Learning how to share, learning it's not all about you, it's about the team, really helped me."...

Bush, White stay ahead of fast company - USA Today
RUNNING BACKS
1. Reggie Bush, 5-11, 201, Southern California
Go ahead and compare him to some of the elusive greats of the past. That gives you the idea of how he can affect a game...

...2. LenDale White, 6-1, 238, Southern California
The thunder that shook opponents from the Southern California backfield with Reggie Bush as the lightning. A no-nonsense, north-south runner with toughness and speed. Not a complete back in terms of being a natural receiver or consistent pass blocker. In 39 games with the Trojans, started only 11...

100 Greatest Finishes, part 1 - College Football News
...No. 83 - USC 18 ... Ohio State 17, Rose Bowl January 1, 1975 ...USC head coach John McKay, who had been burned in the 1967 Rose Bowl against Purdue by going for two, eschewed the extra point to go for the win...

... No. 55 - USC 27 ... Notre Dame 25, November 25, 1978 ...McDonald connected with Calvin Sweeney for a 35-yard play down to the Notre Dame 25 with :12 left. Charles White, who finished with 205 yards, was able to get it to the 20 for a field goal attempt with six seconds to play...

Featured players - LA Times
...USC went Heisman-less for more than two decades, Carson Palmer finally following up Allen's triumph in 2002 to set off a three-in-four-years Trojan run...

USC also gave the city a long football coaching legacy that extended from Howard Jones' dominance in the early 20th century to John McKay's penchant for one-liners and late-game dramatics to John Robinson's power-ball approach to Pete Carroll's college-kid-forever enthusiasm that produced the school's unlikely turn-of-the-century renaissance...

USC may turn residential - Daily Trojan
...The shift toward becoming a more residential university will "strengthen and increase opportunities for peer-to-peer learning," Sample said. He expressed enthusiasm for modeling future housing after USC's current residential colleges, which all have their own resident faculty members.

"I've witnessed the dramatic increase in intellectual vitality when a faculty member is in charge of the programming for that residential college," he said...

Staying power - LA Times
...More than any other sport, Trojan football is bound up with the growth of L.A. as a city.

"USC was just a rinky-dink school in the 1920s and L.A. wasn't much of a city at the time," says football historian Michael Oriard of Oregon State University. "They grew together. They fed each other."

USC football became the darling of civic boosters. The Trojans were the only tenant of the Coliseum, built by the business elite as a monument to the city in 1923...

[Wooden] L.A. in Wooden's words - LA Times
...The athletes who I've had the most respect for over the years are all outstanding thinkers: Sandy Koufax, Lewis Alcindor, Bill Walton, John Stockton, David Robinson. In the USC football I've seen lately, I like the way Matt Leinart thinks...

...USC has had more than its share of great players and coaches over the years. I had tremendous respect for Rod Dedeaux, the legendary baseball coach, and I was very sad about his recent passing. We were friends.

And then there was John McKay. He had a great sense of humor. When I think about him, I think about the time I was in the airport and someone came up to me and said "You're John McKay."...

Gibbs talks about the old days - Washington Times
...Joe Gibbs loves to say the NFL changes 30 percent every year, but one thing that doesn't change is his love for the old days -- when he was a lowly college assistant in the 1960s...

...Gibbs, a teetotaler, also laughed about being made to baby-sit then 10-year-old Rich McKay when the other USC coaches would go out drinking.

"They'd give me five bucks and say, 'Take Richie and get him some pie,' " Gibbs said. "[Years later], I'd ask John how Richie was doing in college, and he'd say, 'He's doing fine. I think he's majoring in airlines. He just flies back and forth...

[Prisco] QB or not QB? Texans' Kubiak not tipping his hand -- much - CBS Sportsline
..."I've had people holler for Reggie Bush. I think the town is excited about the pick."

It seems everybody in Houston has an opinion on what the Texans should do with the first overall pick in the April NFL Draft, as if the Texans brass will heed any of that advice.

Many of the locals want the Texans to take Young...Others want Southern California running back Reggie Bush, who would join quarterback David Carr and receiver Andre Johnson to give the Texans their version of the Triplets. So who will it be?...