USC Athletics

The Trojans kicked off week three of spring football with several notable alums in attendance, including Antwaun Woods, Hayes Pullard and Mark Sanchez.

• In injury news, safety Talanoa Hufanga broke his collarbone, underwent surgery and will be out for the next eight weeks.


• Tailbacks Stephen Carr and Vavae Malepeai returned to practice after the flu bug cost them time last week. "Feels good to be back," said Malepeai. "I just broke my fever. Kind of getting my cardio back. When you gotta go, you gotta go."


• With Aca'Cedric Ware gone, the lead dog role is open in the USC offense. Malepeai is the leading returning rusher, but he's not focused on the depth chart. "I've always had the same mindset of coming out and performing to the best of my ability," the junior said. "I'm always gonna be a competitor. I always want to come in and dominate. Nothing really changes for me. Personally, I like to come out and work and just put everything on tape."


• Malepeai led all running backs in receptions last season, so his hands will be a great asset in this offense. He also likes the speed, saying, "I'm a high motor guy. This a really fast paced offense. I feel like I can just get in the rhythm and keep going and make a big play. The key to this offense is no subs. I like to stay hot, so once I'm hot, you just get to go."


• RS freshman Markese Stepp dropped 10-12 pounds since last season to prepare for the new tempo. "I knew if I wanted to play in this offense I was going to have to have better conditioning," he said. "240 [pounds] was rough to be honest with you."


• New OC Graham Harrell wants the offense to play even faster than what we've seen so far this spring. He used last Saturday's scrimmage as an example, saying, "We were pretty explosive, especially towards the end. We started playing with better tempo, and you start wearing those guys down. The run game really improves because you got those guys tired."


• Under new RB coach Mike Jinks, who is well versed in the Air Raid, the running backs are also being asked to improve their mental game. "[Jinks] really pays attention to the little things, we worked on a lot of footwork right before spring ball and then pass blocking," said Stepp. "He really knows what he's talking about and makes us learn it like a quarterback, not like a running back, so we got to know what everyone is doing so the offense can run more fluidly."


• The next practice is Thursday afternoon. All practices are open to the public, including the Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 6.