The Trojans had several distinguished guests at practice, highlighted by Heisman Trophy winner Carson Palmer.
- RB Aca'cedric Ware has a foot sprain and is doubtful for Saturday's practice, per head coach Clay Helton.
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While the offense returns QB Sam Darnold and several other core talents, Helton sees "more work to do offensively than maybe defensively" at this point.
- Among the question marks, both offensive tackle spots are open. Chuma Edoga is a polished veteran, giving him the inside track at one of the openings. The other side is more of an open competition and Helton is "extremely impressed" with Andrew Vorhees, a freshman to watch.
- The offense also has several opportunities at wide receiver and Velus Jones Jr. is seizing a role. He is not a traditional target like Darreus Rogers or JuJu Smith-Schuster, but he "seems to have created an explosion play each and every day," said Helton.
- While the defense has a lot of experience, veteran linebacker Cam Smith is looking for a partner inside to replace captain Michael Hutchings. John Houston Jr. is first in line. "John is one of the guys I am really excited about. I liked him a lot last year. He just couldn't really crack into the lineup," said defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast about Houston. "I think he's got a real good skill set. I think he's instinctual. I am really looking forward to seeing his progress."
- Houston learned a lot from watching Hutchings, and he still taps into his knowledge whenever he sees him. "Mike is still a leader, so I still take notes from him," said Houston. "He tells me different keys each time that I see him. So coming after him is one of the best things that I could do because he has a lot of experience with the defense. He knows it like both sides of his hands, so I feel like having him as my right hand is going to help me out this season."
- Pendergast has noticed that sophomore inside linebacker candidate Jordan Iosefa picked up some tricks from Hutchings as well. "Jordan gained a lot of valuable experience last year as well. He's a very good communicator. He has a good feel for what we want to do defensively. He had an opportunity to watch Mike for a year, so that was big for him."
- With Hutchings gone, Iosefa is ready to lean on Smith's brain and precognitive abilities. "He's helped me understand what's going to happen first down, second down, third down," Houston said about Smith. "He helped me understand what Coach Clancy's thinking because he would know what Coach Clancy was thinking. He would kind of expect it, and it's the same thing that goes for me. I kind of expect what Coach Clancy's going to call."
- Freshman LB Tayler Katoa is trying to work into the mix as well, but he's making a positional change, so he has a lot to learn. "He's a guy that hasn't played a lot of linebacker, but he's a raw athlete," said Pendergast about Katoa. "He's very receptive, takes coaching very well. Those are the kind of guys you like to coach."
- The Trojans are allowed three live tackling days out of the 15 practices and Saturday's scrimmage will be one of them. The scrimmage is open to the public and will be on Howard Jones Field at 10 a.m.
- Here is head coach Clay Helton on the legends at practice and much more:
