He still has time to enroll or he can just wait until the second session that begins in June. What's the rush?

Mustain was picked up personally at the airport on Saturday by one of the SC coaches and everything with his recruitment, including keeping him away from Sanchez (as well as keeping Sanchez in the dark), has been very deliberate.

This has been in the works since January and has followed a very calculated plan by the SC coaches.

Mustain is the future of the USC quarterback corps and this is simply more drama that will eventually play itself out the way it was intended.

Like many people, I knew about the buzz that Mustain had arrived in town and was on campus, but was wondering if he was actually going to start school this week. I know a lot of people who'll be taking summer school, but have not yet registered for classes, so it's hardly a big deal. Usually you just register for classes on the day the specific class starts.

Mustain may be taking Monday and Tuesday classes, so he still has time to register for those classes without missing any sessions.

Fight On!

Scott:

Come, buddy, just admit it - you just want to get a few more posts in about Mustain before the mystery of his enrollment at USC has ended once and for all. You have written more stories about Mustain than any other player ever before. No one had received more space from you than Mustain and I doubt anyone else in the future ever will. These stories have caused your blog to be the first stop for many when it comes to getting news about Trojan football and have made it the most popular site as far as hits are concerned. So you know what you're doing. Feed the flames and the hordes will congregate.

What will we all do once Mustain is actually enrolled and we no longer have our weekly update about "Mustain has not made an official announcement yet"?

For what it's worth, I was told that Mustain will simply enroll at USC and there will not be a big, official announcement from him. Things could change, but that's what I was told as of last week.

We'll all look back in many years time about the Mitch Mustain Mysteries with fondness! Can the mystery really be coming to an end? Say it ain't so!

Mustain 2008!

With Mustain and Williams added to the recruiting lists, I wonder if USC would have taken the top spot in the Recruiting Battle? I don't know how many points Rivals and Scout place on people, but I just wonder if the Trojans win another recruiting year if they add those guys in there....

Have you been looking on the LA Trade Tech campus to see if he is taking the summer session there?

Mustain couldn't compete against Casey Dick! What is all the hype about! If his recruitment counted in the rankings, the Trojans would drop seven or eight places!

Bill,

Your post one again is ridiculous. We could drop 20 spots and still not be in the FUCLA bottom dweller category of recruiting.

Bill has a particular fondness for athletes with the name, "Dick"

So the Mustain sightings on campus have begun? He's probably just taking his time getting fitted for his Trojan jersey that will be sold at the bookstore when he's the starting quarterback in 2008.

Normally you can register for classes into the 1st week of the semester. I'm sure its earlier for the summer session. I would assume its as late as before the 2nd meeting of the class. Which might be today.

For those who think Pete is going to hand the keys to the offense over to Mitch in 2008. I dont think that will just happen. Im sure he will give Mark and Aaron Corp a fair chance at the start as each of them will have been in the system for a least a year as well.

TrojanEncore -

Several things to consider:

1) The playbook changes every year, so what does it matter if someone knows the current playbook?

2) Following on the above, Mustain will have been at USC for an entire year before he becomes eligible to play in 2008, and that's plenty of time to learn the current playbook. But again, that's irrelevant since the playbook will have changed by then.

3) Carroll and Sarkisian may not even be at USC come 2008, so the offense will be changed by the time Mustain becomes eligible.

4) Corp will get his chance to play eventually, but he's nowhere near Mustain in terms of talent and ability. Corp is, however, a much faster athlete than Sanchez. He's very much a run-oriented QB and is far more athletic than Sanchez.

5) Having seen both Sanchez and Mustain play in great depth the past few months, Sanchez doesn't even come close to Mustain. Sanchez is slow, has no accuracy, and as his problems with the law have illustrated a lack of leadership skills and good judgment.

6) Mustain is a pro with the media, while Sanchez showed the athletic department last August with his LA Times interview that he was out of his depth. After lying on the record to Bill Dwyer about videotaped evidence, Sanchez was barred from speaking to the media. Totally embarrassing.

7) When 2008 rolls around, Mustain will have had more experience as a starting quarterback than the other four QBs on the Trojan roster combined. He has the best record (8-0) of any true freshman starting QB in the history of college football.

So, again, it doesn't matter who has been around longer, a year is plenty of time to learn the playbook, but there will still be a new playbook come next year, thus making the point irrelevant. Carroll and Sarkisian may very well be gone from USC by then, anyhow, and everything will be in the hands of the new staff.

IF coaches have to sneak him on campus and hide him from Sanchez then the whole thing stinks. It is the cruel side of football's win at all cost. By 2008 Sanchez will have put in 3 hard years waiting. Unless he turned out a dud (which is not what has been reported by PC) it seems somehow wrong.

Sanchez would be the new Steve Grady.

IF coaches have to sneak him on campus and hide him from Sanchez then the whole thing stinks. It is the cruel side of football's win at all cost. By 2008 Sanchez will have put in 3 hard years waiting. Unless he turned out a dud (which is not what has been reported by PC) it seems somehow wrong.

Sanchez would be the new Steve Grady.

James,

You are making a lot of assumptions. All I am saying is that its been Pete's policy to open the competition at all positions. Im not saying Mitch will not gain the starting role. However he will have to beat out the other QBs in the system.

I dont agree with your comment that the play book changes every year. No way is that a fact. Most teams have basic core plays that they run every year. The point is all 3 QBs will have been in the system for a least a year. However its to no ones guess as to how either of these prospects will have developed 1 1/2 yrs down the road. As a matter of fact Mark is only 1 Booty injury away from becoming the starter this coming season. If that happens and he does well. I doubt that we will see Mustain ove take him in 2008.

You are also making a major assumption that Pete will not be here in 2008. Where else would he be? I frankly dont think Pete will ever go back to the NFL game and why would he want to be at any other college but USC?

Saying experience doesn't count/it doesn't matter who has been around longer is hilarious. That's exactly what gave Booty the edge over Sanchez last year, and it will work the same way for Sanchez over Mustain. It's Sanchez's job to lose.

Regardless, this year it's the Booty show. This year I want to hear Marley's "Redemption Song" after the UCLA game when the scoreboard should read something close to 76-0 (I figure we'll kick a couple of field goals). And then it's on to the BCS Title game.

Only internet morons keep worrying about who will be starting in '08.

TrojanEncore -

I never said that Carroll would definitely not be at USC in 2008; I only stated that it is a very real possibility. He has already interviewed for other jobs and expressed to the interviewers that he was interested. But he wasn't offered the jobs.

For what it's worth, the athletic department already came up with a list of replacements for Carroll should he leave after next season.

Yes, some basic plays exist in the playbook, but the essence is changed. If there were no changes, wouldn't other teams easily figure out the USC offense? Besides, why would it be so hard for Mustain to learn the playbook over the course of an entire year?

As far as game experience is concerned, Mustain obviously trumps Sanchez in every way. Mustain started eight games in the SEC and won every single game. Sanchez was a bench warmer and will continue to be a bench warmer this year. Mustain has started at the highest levels and has won at the highest levels. The only experience Sanchez has is playing against 14 year old high school boys three years ago.

Again, a lot of factors go into the equation, but what I am trying to convey is that Mustain is hardly a project. He is a highly accomplished college quarterback, who has already started and won every game in the SEC. He has experience as a starter in big games and has won every game he has ever started. When comparing Mustain with Sanchez purely on their football skills, Mustain handedly beats out Sanchez - in terms of speed, accuracy, mobility and play calling. Mustain is just a monster and don't underestimate him without researching what he's capable of. He is a complete QB and there is simply no scenario that someone like Sanchez could beat Mustain out for the starting job.

I'm getting tired of the "hiding Mustain from Sanchez" lines. At some point I would assume the two of them will be together in practice and will also get the chance to hold clipboards this next year in games.

Now answer this; would it make any logical sense to have Mustain's main competition be his host on campus? Its not like any other position where you can have multiple players on the field. I wouldn't be eager to help my bosses recruit someone at my place of employment who would most likely take my job!

You posters make it sound like Sanchez would ambush Mustain if he saw him walking alone! (Well...)

PH55: Aaron Corp was introduced to Sanchez and Sanchez served as his host. With Mustain, no such thing ever happened. Very different recruitment scenario.

As for being "ambushed by Sanchez" - well, he does have a history of being arrested for assault!!! Ha ha ha! I keed, I keed!

Obviously Sanchez isn't going to be introduced to the person who is being groomed for the job that Sanchez once thought was going to be his. Just how do you think the conversation will go?

"This is Mitch. He's being brought in as the next starting quarterback, so show him around and tell him why he should come to USC."

Let's clarify a few things here:

It was not Mustain who was hiding from Sanchez. He was being kept away from Sanchez, and Sanchez was being kept completely out of the loop regarding Mustain's recruitment.

Mustain knew the score and he couldn't care less who he was brought in contact with on his campus visits.

Why all the fuss over Mustain not having registered for classes as of Tuesday, when classes began on Wednesday? He could be taking classes on four other days of the week. Registration for the summer session began on Monday, so I hardly think it's an emergency if he hadn't enrolled in classes yet. His transfer papers from Arkansas may not have arrived yet. There are so many other plausible scenarios.

I also want to chime in on the Mustain recruitment secrecy - here is the most decorated high school player in history and the most successful true freshman college quarterback in history, so why would he be put in contact with a known thug with a history of being arrested for rape and threatening female student reporters who filmed his arrest? That's simply asking for trouble.

So the coaching staff knew exactly what they were doing by keeping Mustain away from Sanchez. There is absolutely no reason for Mustain to even associate with someone like Sanchez.

Fight on!

Scoreboard

My scoreboard says

USC 41 wins
UCLA 28 wins

IF SANCHEZ IS SMART, he should leave THIS YEAR as he´d be back as a starting pac 10 qb by next year, if he goes the JC route. As a UCLA fan, I would love to see him line up as a Washington Huskie In 2008, giving you SC fans fits. You deserve it for putting him down now just because the flavor of the month just showed up on campus. Then, where are you all be when JDB goes down like a bag of Ruffles this year? Does ANYONE out there in SC nation remember the bad back?

MARK, TAKE YOUR GAME TO A SCHOOL THAT WILL APPRECIATE YOU!

Dear Michael,
thanks for letting us trojan fans know how we should feel.

now move along.

p.s. reelbruin,

go have a nice day.

Bill, come home now...mamabear's waiting. You've been a baaaaad boy.

I guess the check hasn't cleared!

Marathon Runner,
I get your point but Corp would most likely be backing up Sanchez. Sanchez would obviously understand the need to recruit another qb two years behind him, (You have to groom a successor.) and he would not have his job threatened by Corp (unless he just stunk.) Mustain on the other hand does threaten his job so it makes sense not to have Sanchez be his host.

Oh and Michael,
Lets not talk about the "flavor of the month" when everybody was going crazy about Drew Olson being on a short leash with Ben Olson (Southpaw Jesus) ready to come on. Talk about "flavor of the month!"

Or if you want to go old school, how is this for "flavor or the month" --
Troy Aikman. I'm assuming you would have rather had whoever your socal recruited qb was at the time starting instead. (Who knows, maybe he would have beaten SC.)

PH55: I completely agree and that's the point I was trying to get across.

Mustain is clearly being brought in as a ready-packaged starter, so no need to have him associate with yesterday's groceries.

I diont know about anyone else but Mustain leaving Arkansas because he was beat out by Casey Dick?? That doesnt sit well with me . What if PC puts him behing Mark Sanchez ?? will he pout agin call mama amd leave us ?? there is something to be said about loyalty..ask Houston Nutt....

There is also something to be said about not embarrassing the university by getting arrested for raping a girl.

There is plenty to be said about embarrassing yourself at the scrimmage in front of 10,000 people with one interception after another, one incomplete pass after another, one fumble after another.

So, yes, based on loyalty, let's get the rapist who can't play football to start over the boy who went 8-0 as a true freshman starter in the SEC.

Makes a ton of sense to me, kimosabe.

TrojanSAEinNYC,

you are as bad as these bRUINS we have on this board.

to call sanchez a rapist when charges were never filed...not cool dude.

please check the official police incident report (it's available in public records) and then decide if his arrest was warranted.

Fourthandnine:

I have read the police report and it totally justifies why he was arrested. He got off on something completely different later on with the DA's office.

This is not the forum to go into details, but let's just say there is far more to the story.

Having said that, it is as a Trojan that I want players who will represent USC with pride and dignity, and whom we can all be proud of, both on and off the field. Is that really too much to ask?

Sorry TrojanSAE, you don't get to pick the players, much less the starters. It'll all be decided on the field, as it should be.

Trojanq84:

Mustain didn't leave because Casey Dick became the starter. He left because everything he was told about the style of offense during his recruiting was a complete lie!

AlwaysBeatND, if it's going to be decided solely on what happens on the field, then Mustain must be pretty confident right now knowing he's going to start over Sanchez. It won't even be close. Sanchez doesn't have a chance over Mustain. Not in a thousand lifetimes.

TrojanCNTV,

Opinion, conjecture, supposition...it's all rather weak.

The best player will be determined on the field, for the good of the team, as it should be.

jamesw99 - where have you seen mustain play football recently to make the statement - "Having seen both Sanchez and Mustain play in great depth the past few months, Sanchez doesn't even come close to Mustain.”?

to the mustain fan club - i don't see why you all are so emotionally attached to mustain. or is it an impassioned bent against sanchez? did sanchez do something to you, your family, or your good friend(s)? if true that would shed some light. i don’t see a reason to be so dogmatic with your mustain predictions and observations. why? because 1) you could be setting yourself up to look foolish if mustain doesn’t start over sanchez, 2) high expectations are rarely ever met so why set the mustain bar so high.

i'm not trying to attack you guys only making an honest observation. your tone speaks bias. i'm being sincere with my questions. i just don't see overwhelming facts to pub mustain as the starter in ‘08 while bashing sanchez like he stole your lunch money everyday in grammar school. we're on the same team so please try to keep the replies civil and on point.

Pablo, I honestly see it as best man wins when the 3 guys compete. I don't necessarily agree with the majority on this blog that Mustain will be "ordained" into the starting roll. Sanchez seems to have lost a lot of his original luster by the way he's practiced though. Last pre season he had the opportunity to unseat JDB who was recuperating from back ailments..He didn't make the grade then and has not IMHO improved any since that point in time. The off field stuff also handicaps him in the eyes of the coaching staff I think.
The best part of Pete Carrols program however is that it's open competition 24/7 so if Sanchez is up to it then he'll definitely get his chance to beat Mustain out, but based on MM's history at Ark, It looks to me like he is light years ahead of MS.

Gillyking
Oh, and there is not one shred of bias here!

Gilly-dally-king the "ordained""
Again you are a bigger idiot than I thought, OK Mr. "ordained"?
1. MM beat ONLY one good team: Auburn. The rest were the lower class teams of the SEC.
2. Among his stats 10 TD's, 9 INT.'s and a QBR of 70. In MM last game he threw THREE INT.'s which lead to his permanent benching in favor of Casey Dick. For the very few of you that have bothered to calculate the QBR Interceptions contribute the most to a low QBR. GL is that what you consider lightyears ahead? You are NOT a QB's coach to make such an assessment. You are neither a sports journalist NOR a politican much less a damn poet.
Finally I see something positive out of Paul's mouth-excuse me Pablo's. He sounded like a Paul before. This time he sounded like a Pablo, muchas gracias Pablo. The same thing can be said of PH55-thank you.
Back to the "ordained" mind reader. Gillyking you are neither a CFB expert much less a mind reader. I know you are going use poetry in your political kiss-kiss games like JJ does. In fact go back to your submarine...

gillyking - yes, i agree there is no shred of bias. i do differ with your assessment of mustain's freshman year.

Pablo, I think that "to sometimes disagree" is what is fun about this type of blogging. Our reasonable opinions get the chance to be discussed in a clean and mature unbiased CIVIL way.

I believe that any true freshman QB, regardless of all the statistical mish mash, that can take a previously thought to be middle of the road team, to all of those consecutive wins, has to be pretty special. The fact that the entire Arkansas football team and especially thier coaching staff happened to be in a tremendous turmoil didn't help him much either, further impresses me. I strongly believe that MM can be a really talented addition to the Trojans, one that will most likely overtake Mark Sanchez in head to head competition when it gets down to the nitty gritty. I base this opinion primarily on MMs apparrent better athleticism and game experience as opposed to MSs basic history of distracting setbacks at USC.
It will be fun to watch the competition though. Aaron Corp will have something to say when the competition starts though. His tremendous speed/mobility assets are going to prove to be something special also.

Gillyking
BTW...It is a pleasure to read a constructive response ..sans the flaming venom.

Hey Pablo do you see what goes on here? This Gillyking guy does not agree that Mustain should just be as he put it ordained into the starting QB roll in 08 but would just probably beat out
Sanchez, and then he indicated his reasons. So then,the race baiter once again finds a cause to flame with vulgarity and racial innuendo. Just another reason to not reply to that garbage.
Fight On,
Goliathtrojan

I suspect that Door Prize strongly resembles "Tweak" from South Park.

Gillyking the "ordained"?:
"apparent athleticism" sounds more like true BS. You have NOT seen either one play and then you come on with your last post to take most of it back. Stick to your cheap poetry and your yellow submarine! I told you you are NOT a QB's coach...