My impression of Mitch Mustain will be available in my fall book: Mitch and Me.
But I will say he is soft spoken and polite, which is typical of Southerners. My first impression was that there is no danger of Mustain going Hollywood like Matt Leinart. He's more like John David Booty than Leinart. I think he wants to fit and not make waves. I also hear from my spies he is more of a private person. And he already said he is not transferring if he doesn't start.
I think his ideal situation would be to lead USC to a national title and be just another guy on the team. I'm sure he ran away from Arkansas more than he ran to USC. He almost went to Tulsa, but it was little too small and he didn't want to be viewed as the savior.
Now, my one caveat would be that I don't know all the details of the Arkansas transfer (yet) and maybe there could be some baggage there. Ask me in about six weeks, or read the book.

I am in the Bush Push picture, the object of tranquility to the left in the Capital One soccer jersey. Who can identify the team?
On a side note, that might be the most intense moment I've witnessed at a USC game, especially as the crowd just needed to be cleared from celebrating and the sideline cleared of USC coaches calling timeouts.

If Bush did not push, I believe Leinart would have squimed into the end zone because of the blocking at the line of scrimmage. If my memory serves me, it was Fred Davis and Sam Baker providing the key blocks.

Pete Carroll's mention of Stafon Johnson means Carroll is acutely aware of the frustration regarding Johnson. Just a few weeks ago, Dorsey teammate Rahim Moore asked Carroll about Johnson during an event at the Coliseum. So Carroll knows it's an issue. As for fullback, I don't think Carroll believes it's fair to ask Johnson, who barely got a chance, to switch positions already.
I agree, since Johnson played last year with injured shoulders. So maybe he deserves training camp to see if he can break the logjam at tailback.

The tight end rotation will probably feature Dale Thompson in blocking situations but the X factor is Anthony McCoy, who is probably the most talented tight end but still needs to show it somewhere besides the practice field. This should be his chance.

NFL Europe players go to NFL camps, the CFL or the Arena League.

I have no feel for whether Vidal Hazelton will make an impact. I think it's up to him since the coaches gave him a starting spot. Stafon Johnson needs to get a good look but there is always the chance it's a smokescreen.

David Ausberry and Travon Patterson can make an impact if their spring performances translate to games. Spring is a tricky time. Remember, no Terrell Thomas, no Kevin Thomas, no Kevin Ellison, not even Will Harris. So the receivers got to eat up walk-ons a lot of the time.

Kevin Ellison does possess leadership qualities. So does Terrell Thomas, who spoke the team before the Stanford game. Taylor Mays could also be a leader now that he is a sophomore. Another leader is Sedrick Ellis.

USC's done some recruiting of Julio Jones, but right now I'd say he's a wait-and-see recruit. Just like tailback Sam McGuffie of Texas, who USC is still recruiting. Just because he didn't go to the camps doesn't mean he or the Trojans are not interested. But it might take the actual season or afterward to determine their interest. Imagine that! Recruits who wait and visit schools officially before committing!

USC was not scheduled to play Hawaii that I'm aware of, although I believe the Warriors offered 750,000 for the Trojans to come out again this season.

NBC does not want Pat Haden to be Mr. USC and neither does Haden. They both want objectivity and Haden does it well. They didn't hire him to be a buffoon color analyst, there's other networks for that. They want professionalism.

If Mitch Mustain were a tree, it would be a pine tree, any fool knows it's the official tree of Arkansas.

Regarding Luthur Brown, who would you start him over? Rey Maualuga? He's not really an outside linebacker, so the middle is his true spot and injuries have hampered him for two years. The question this season is whether he is closer to Maualuga or Chris Galippo on the depth chart. I don't know if he would transfer but he probably wants to see what happens if he is 100 percent healthy for a season first.

I think I addressed the NCAA-Oklahoma issue yesterday. I'm sure the opinion of many media members is that USC is guilty of something but many reporters also know it's difficult to predict the NCAA's reaction to anything. To paraphrase Jerry Tarkanian, the NCAA was so mad at UCLA, it put Cal State Northridge on two years probation.

Drew McAllister blew away the coaches during the mini-camp, especially after running the fastest 40 at Cal's camp. They also did not want to wait until every other school discovered him since only USC and Cal offered him. And Pete Carroll wants safeties and this way it won't be as painful if D'Anton Lynn or any other safety prospect goes elsewhere.

I would be surprised if an offensive lineman moves to defense. Usually, that's the sign of a weak prospect. Now a player moving the other way is ideal, as coaches will tell you. A defensive lineman is quicker, so if you flip him over, you have a quick offensive lineman. That's why Michael Reardon got flopped and to a lesser degree, Thomas Herring.

The raw Davon Jefferson is still waiting to hear from the clearinghouse. That's not surprising, because it is early. Mamadou Diarra needs to learn the post position moves still, and little things like knowing who to pass to, because of inexperience. He's going to be a project, but an athletic one and should make a contribution this season. I'm bullish on him because of his eager attitude.

USC will start practice with two scholarship fullbacks. Someone might get moved, like Thomas Williams, but not immediately. USC might sign a JC player but it's really hard because USC is probably the toughest school in the Pac-10 (Versus Conference) to get a JC player into.
Why? USC does not accept D's from JCs (other schools do) and USC does not offer PE as a major, so JC prospects need a lot of core classes that transfer over or else they cannot get into school.


No USC basketball ever received the national hype of O.J. Mayo, so that's why he's so popular. Mitch Mustain is not quite a figure of the same prominence, but USC football is so much bigger than basketball that when a QB transfers in that was successful at an SEC school, it causes abnormal interest. Now leave me alone, I have to go follow Mustain.


LA is not big enough for David Beckham and Mitch Mustain. It's is big enough for Beckham and his wife. Actually she's skinny enough to multiply by 100 and still fit into LA.

Michael Coleman is no longer at USC.

LSU and USC have talked in the past eight years but dates were always a problem. No school ``chickened out'' as Internet geeks always like to pretend. I suggested to Pete Carroll this week that he challenge LSU to a game next season either at the start or end of the season.

Mustain will suit up for home games but not for road games because he is redshirting and you can't waste a roster spot for a non-player.

From what I've heard bowl trophies are not forfeited, but nowadays, rules tend to be changed on the fly (or in reaction to public opinion), so things could change.

I will sign your Bush Push photo for an Italian or Spanish soccer jersey. My signature raises the price of that photo by at least 5 Euros.

Well, here we are again, the end of another Open Forum. Man, things were so busy I needed two days to answer questions. Normally, it's just one, but I had to meet my Mitch Mustain spy and explain to her that thousands of readers breathlessly await her reports. She thought I was joking when I said after two Q and A's with Mustain, there were still more questions about him than any other player. Waaaaaaaaaay more.