Defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin will work the game from the pressbox. He was expected to be on the field up until a few days ago when Lane Kiffin suggested he go upstairs because college football does not allow photos to be sent to the sideline like in the NFL.

Here's the first preseason Heisman Trophy poll courtesy of StiffArmTrophy.com, which asked 88 Heisman voters who their 15 players would be on a Heisman Watch List.
Results after the jump:

It's about two hours to kickoff and USC just arrived at Aloha Stadium in black/grey warmup suits. That's a big improvement over those notorious black and yellow warmups from a couple years ago. Lane Kiffin is in a dress shirt and slacks.

Here's a view of Pearl Harbor from Aloha Stadium. The small ship in the middle of the picture is actually the battleship USS Missouri, where the Japanese surrendered at the end of World War II. The white blip to the right is the USS Arizona memorial.

USC can win tonight if:
The Trojans do not want their season to end on the same night it begins.
Coach Lane Kiffin does not want to be booed next week at the Coliseum.
Quarterback Matt Barkley actually improved from a year ago. Actually, they would win with last year's Barkley too.
Tailbacks Marc Tyler and Allen Bradford fumble less than Joe McKnight.
Defensive line coach Ed Orgeron does not lose his voice in the first quarter.

Hawaii can win tonight if:
The NCAA announces before the game that it changed its mind about allowing USC to play in Hawaii and declares a forfeit.
Former quarterback Colt Brennan flies in and is granted an extra game of eligibility.
USC's buses get stuck in the notorious traffic outside Aloha Stadium and head for Pete Carroll's vacation house on the North Shore.

USC is ranked 13th in the FWAA preseason poll. Remember, the FWAA said USC would be eligible for its preseason poll but not for its final poll at the end of the season.

OK, time to pick the score of the first Kiffin era game. I'll start things off: USC 45, Hawaii 17.

New USC coach Lane Kiffin makes his debut tonight against Hawaii and things are a lot different than when he accepted the job.
``If you told me there would be a new president and athletic director (before I took the job), I'd probably tell you, no, I wouldn't take it," Kiffin said. ``But if you told me the president would be Max Nikias and athletic director Pat Haden, I'd say yes in a second.''

Demetri Papadakis, the younger brother of Petros Papadakis, will no longer play football at UCLA after being sidelined with a torn labrum in his shoulder.

Stephen Tsai of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser said tonight that he could not pick a winner between USC and Hawaii but the game will be close.

Hawaill safety Mana Silva intercepted six passes and broke up four more last season. He intercepted as many passes as the rest of the Hawaii team combined.

Tailback Marc Tyler on his only other visit to Hawaii.
``I only went there once when I was 7. I just remember I went snorkeling.''

USC is on probation and it's providing motivation on the eve of tomorrow's opener with Hawaii.
``People think we're down with the sanctions but we're ready to play. We need to show 'SC is still 'SC,'' tailback Marc Tyler said.

A typical day at Waikiki about 24 hours before the USC-Hawaii game.

If you are in Hawaii, there is a rally tonight at 6 at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. Then again, if you are in Hawaii, is attending a rally what you want to do tonight?

The WAC announced its criteria today for adding new members with the imminent departure of Fresno State and Nevada.
Here it is:

Academics
Attendance
Budgets
Location/transportation
Market size
Recent program success
Sports sponsorship

Is this what Larry Scott used when he added Utah?

``I just say he hasn't performed. He hasn't taken advantage of his opportunities. He's clearly been average. He hasn't been a guy who's really taken control and choked the opportunity that's been given to him, and obviously there's something missing there.''
-- Jon Gruden on Matt Leinart

With Lane Kiffin canceling today's walkthrough at Aloha Stadium, USC will hold a light practice at a local high school instead. The Trojans' resort is where NFL players would stay when the Pro Bowl was held in Hawaii.

Former Arizona Cardinals receiver Anquan Boldin was asked by Baltimore radio station The Fan if he was surprised Matt Leinart has not won the starting job in Arizona.
``Honestly no. That's just because I've been there and witnessed the relationship between both Matt and Coach (Ken) Whisenhunt. So I'm actually not surprised.''

Instead of being in Hawaii, Lane Kiffin could be getting ready for that big opener vs. Tennessee-Martin. Tickets are available.

USC arrived in Hawaii late Tuesday night and Coach Lane Kiffin said the trip will be all business.

Offensive lineman Khaled Holmes (pinched nerve in neck) will start at right guard on Thursday. Holmes practiced with the first unit, and Lane Kiffin proclaimed him ready. ... Abe Markowitz had surgery to repair a fractured foot on Tuesday, and Kiffin said the surgery went well ... QB Mitch Mustain and tailback DJ Morgan (knee) are limited ... TE Xavier Grimble (ankle) is out.

Lane Kiffin canceled Wednesday's walkthrough at Aloha Stadium. A pre-game visit to the opposing stadium was always a big part of Pete Carroll's itinerary on road trips but Kiffin said Monday he would do some things differently. Now we know one for sure.

``I never told him he needed to coach. He was always fascinated by the strategy and asked questions about game management.''
-- Monte Kiffin on Lane Kiffin

``He had no idea or desire to coach defense.''
-- Monte Kiffin on his son, Lane, preferring offense during his childhood

Among ESPN's analysts. Lee Corso, Ed Cunningham and Lou Holtz pick USC to win the Pac-10. But more analysts pick Oregon. Here's the results:

Lane Kiffin insisted he will not be nervous right before Thursday's Hawaii game.
``I don't have time to get nervous,'' he said.

USC tailback Marc Tyler got some helpful advice from fellow tailback C.J. Gable before he makes his first start.

Here's my video report on some coaching questions going into the season opener against Hawaii.

Lane Kiffin will be doing things differently on the road trip with his approach to pre-game walkthroughs and other things compared to his predecessor, Pete Carroll.
``There's a million ways to do things,'' Kiffin said. ``It's going to be a little bit tighter. That doesn't mean its better by any means. The old way won 34 straight games and seven straight conference championships.
``But you have to be yourself and you have to let your own personality on your team. We'll be a little tighter with them and not quite as loose.''

As you might notice, post-practice updates are posted first on the twitter feed located on the right side of this blog.
We already mentioned that freshman wide receiver Kyle Prater is expected to redshirt this season. Apparently, his thigh and hamstring injuries were too much to overcome and USC is deep at receiver.
Michael Reardon returned to practice Monday and is now the backup center. Khaled Holmes, listed as ``limited'' by Lane Kiffin, is the No. 3 center.
Kiffin said tonight that the defense's tackling and the running game would be two big questions going into the Hawaii game because of the lack of live tackling on practices.

Utah has sold a school-record 31,737 season tickets.

Ask your pre-game questions here.

We actually finished this one.

We address the scholarship situation for this coming year in this segment.

More questions answered today.

No, we did not forget to answer all the questions from the Open Forum.

USC scored 62 points against Hawaii in 1999, 61 points in 2003 and 63 in 2005. Can the Trojans break 60 this year? Does the fact Dillon Baxter is out affect that?

Although the depth chart lists Hunter Simmons as the backup fullback, there's probably a good chance Rhett Ellison (or another tight end) would move to fullback Stanley Havili is injured. Havili said his shoulder, which he dislocated earlier, feels fine this week.

USC defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin's got a concern going into Thursday's game but one of them is not middle linebacker Devon Kennard.

Abe Markowitz's foot injury is similar to that suffered by defensive end Armond Armstead last year. That means he will be out at least four-to-six weeks.

Reserve center Abe Markowitz fractured his right foot during Sunday's practice, which means he might end up needing to redshirt this season. Markowitz was the backup to Kris O'Dowd on the depth chart and means Mike Reardon will probably become the new backup.
Of course, Reardon did not practice Sunday because he was injured.

The Seattle Times polled 29 coaches on a variety of topics.

One question: Name the college coach for whom you have the least regard.
Most coaches did not answer. But ``three who did named Lane Kiffin of USC. Only three others got a single mention -- Brian Kelly of Notre Dame, Nick Saban of Alabama and Mike Locksley of New Mexico.''

USC will take 80 players to Hawaii this week. Safety Patrick Hall was supposed to make the travel squad before he was suspended from the team today. Hall's spot was replaced by walk-on K.C. Pola.

Here's a timeline that shows conference realignment is not something that just happened in the modern era.

Starting tailback Marc Tyler talked about how he wanted to leave USC nearly a month ago.

Seattle drops to 1-2 in the NFL exhibition season.

Former USC wide receiver Mike Williams caught a 42-yard pass for the Seahawks in tonight's game against the Minnesota Vikings.

``They tried to recruit him and it didn't go very well.''
-- USC coach Lane Kiffin on an attempt by defensive coaches Monte Kiffin and Ed Orgeron to move tailback Marc Tyler to linebacker when they arrived at USC.

Linebacker Chris Galippo talked today about his role at linebacker following Friday night's official announcement that Devon Kennard would start against Hawaii.

ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit picked Stanford to win the Pac-10. His colleague, Lou Holtz, picked USC.

We asked Pat Haden if he would have reprimanded Pete Carroll if he were still USC's coach following NCAA sanctions.

Here's the depth chart released tonight:

In today's episode, Daily News sportswriters Jon Gold and Vinny Bonsignore talk about:

• The Manny Ramirez question: Should the Dodgers keep him, and can he help them make up a 5-game deficit and get into the playoffs?

• Are Major League pitchers throwing too hard

• Turning to college football, does Boise State's schedule make its pre-season national ranking worthless?

• More on college football and the season ahead

Listen to the show by clicking the play button above, download the MP3 directly, or go to the JV Show blog to subscribe to the feeds for iTunes or your non-Apple application via regular ol' RSS.

"The JV Show" is produced and engineered by Jon Gold and Steven Rosenberg. Theme music by Matt Evans.

Orange Lutheran guard Payton Banks, who is only a sophomore, on campus today.

We asked Lane Kiffin about that ESPN poll of Pac-10 players that showed he was the coach they would least like to play for.
``I'm not concerned about players that playing in the Pac-10 because I can't recruit them,'' Kiffin said.

As of today, USC can sign nine players to scholarships in January, which will not count against the 15 allowed in February.

Here is the watch list for the Lombardi Award, of which I am a voter. USC defensive tackle Jurrell Casey and middle linebacker Chris Galippo made the list.

The depth chart will be announced later today. There are not many mysteries if practice reps are any indication. Devon Kennard looks set at middle linebaceker. Marc Tyler at tailback. Nickell Robey at cornerback. And Robert Woods at wide receiver. One question will be if Khaled Holmes if healthy enough to start at guard.

Athletic director Pat Haden said when he got hired he would oversee a women's sport. That sport will be women's tennis.

USC's final scrimmage before the Hawaii game and Lane Kiffin reacts to those Peyton Manning comments in the Morning Buzz.

The mock game again showed the defense is looking sharper than the offense. But these scrimmages are not great indicators for game performances next week. There is no tackling and the offensive line does not cut block to prevent possible injuries. The rushing stats are near meaningless because tailback cannot get yards after contact.
What about Matt Barkley's two interceptions?
``The first interception, Robert (Woods) was a little off on his route,'' USC coach Lane Kiffin said. ``The second one the guy (Will Andrew) made a great play.''

Lane Kiffin was asked tonight why former USC quarterback Matt Leinart's struggled in the NFL.
``I have no idea. We've got a lot of problems ourselves to figure out,'' he said. ``Last time I spoke to him during training camp, things were going great for him. Sometimes a change of scenery is good to people.''
Already, there is speculation that Caesar might want Leinart.

Here's some mock game stats:

Passing

Matt Barkley 15-24 255 3 TDs, 2 INTs
John Manoogian 12-21 104

Rushing

Curtis McNeal 5-19
Marc Tyler 5-5
C.J. Gable 3-33
Allen Bradford 2-14
Brandon Carswell 1-17

Receiving

Dillon Baxter 6-70
Ronald Johnson 3-38
Jordan Cameron 2-75
David Ausberry 2-41

Scoring

Jordan Cameron 22 pass from Matt Barkley
Brice Butler 29 pass from Matt Barkley
Will Andrew 25 INT return
Marc Tyler 2 run
Robert Woods 4 pass from Matt Barkley

The spot in the Heritage Hall lobby reserved for the FWAA national championship team was replaced by the 1995 Cotton Bowl trophy.