USC fans are wise to not get excited yet


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Trojan fans, I’m proud of you. I thought, after USC’s 49-10 blowout of Hawai’i in which sophomore wide receiver Marqise Lee took the first play of the entire season for a touchdown, you would all start booking flights to Miami and talking about how you couldn’t wait to beat down Alabama. I was all set […]

USC can’t afford to cut this game close


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Saturday’s opener against Hawai’i is intended to be a tune-up, a blowout against a team unable to match USC’s firepower. A quick eye test during warm-ups will betray an undersized Hawai’i squad that the Trojans should simply out-talent. Sound familiar? The Sept. 3, 2010, game against Hawai’i was played under a similar narrative, only to […]

Avoiding injury bug is the key for USC season


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USC coach Lane Kiffin announced Sunday that media members would no longer be allowed to report practice injuries of any sort, saying it put USC at a competitive disadvantage. So the general public will no longer know which Trojans sat out practice, which ones appeared to be hurt or which ones spent their day on […]

Norm Chow suffers little success post-USC


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Hawai’i knows that when it enters the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Saturday, the steady stream of boos from the sold-out crowd will be the least of the team’s worries. USC is favored by close to 40 points with a potent offense capable of decimating an inexperienced Warriors squad. This isn’t the same Hawai’i of […]

USC hype leads to ticket sales spike


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At first, I couldn’t help but smirk. Earlier this month, USC released a handful of promotional videos for the upcoming season, highlighted by the slogan: “We play for the 90,000 faithful. ” The implication, of course, is that the Trojans will be suiting up in front of sellout crowds at the 93,607-seat Los Angeles Memorial […]

Preseason hype does not equate to wins


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Oh, the difference a year makes. A year ago, USC ranked No. 25 in the Associated Press’ preseason college football poll. In USA Today’s poll, the Trojans were absent because of sanctions. One 10-2 season and one upset of Oregon later, the Trojans now rank in the top three in every preseason poll imaginable, including […]

USC’s schedule sets up favorably


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Surely by now you’ve heard a multitude of reasons why No. 3 USC will have a successful season. Barkley this, Woods that, Marqise Lee, the linebackers, Kiffin, whoever films practice or some little future Trojan in the 70th row of the Coliseum is contributing to its success. Well here’s one more. It’s something that affects […]

Quiet offseason bodes well for USC


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On Nov. 26, UCLA’s trendy all-white uniforms trudged off the Coliseum field — stained beyond recognition with dirt and embarrassment — and an endless stream of USC players lined up to conduct the Trojan Marching Band. At that moment, most USC fans wished the 2012 season could start the following Saturday. Instead, USC fandom entered […]

July marks the best of Trojan athletics


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Until we meet again, USC. Wednesday marked the last night of production of The Daily Trojan for the spring semester, which means the semester is coming to a close. We all know what that means for students: Finals. Summer vacation. Job-hunting. But for many USC students, alumni and fans, the end of the semester means […]

USC revives the ‘student-athlete’


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I have a confession to make. For four years now, I have been trying to mask the obvious with every key stroke and article produced. But before entering the campus walls in August 2008, I had no love or, for that matter, respect, for the USC athletic program. I didn’t grow up going to the Coliseum […]