• Ed O and Lane Kiffin made it clear that they want a tougher, more disciplined team. "There is more discipline. I don't know if it's tension. We're still having fun," said Matt Barkley, who was forced to run laps after a fumbled exchange.
• Check out these post-practice interviews with the two guys competing for the starting QB spot: Matt Barkley and Mitch Mustain, as well as the two guys competing for the start MLB spot: Devon Kennard and Chris Galippo
• Receivers Brice Butler, Kyle Prater, and Ronald Johnson all had a great first day of practice. No surprise there, given the amount of work all three of those guys put into winter workouts.
• Here's the day one video recap.
• Blake Ayles (sprained ankle) and Rhett Ellison (mononucleosis) both couldn't practice, so David Ausberry and Jordan Cameron took all the snaps at tight end.

(Photo - The RipsIt Blog)

• There was more strong wide receiver play from (self-announced) Heisman candidate Ronald Johnson. He nabbed two touchdowns in Trojan team play. Lane Kiffin called him the MVP of the first two practices, and said the team had pretty good energy.
• Kristofer O'Dowd went down early in practice with a sprained knee.
• Da'John Harris tipped an errant Barkley pass to himself and took it back for a pick six.
• Here's the free video recap of Thursday's practice.
• John Baxter, new special teams coach, got the Trojans playing a modified version of the reality game-show "Survivor". This was done to add a little fun, competition, and motivation to the otherwise bland special teams drills, but I'm personally not a huge fan of the idea.

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• Last Saturday's practice was the first full pads one of the season, and a laundry list of injuries ensued: "The following players got hurt to some degree: FB Stanley Havili (left shoulder), OT Matt Kalil (hip), LB Marquis Simmons (spine), S Marshall Jones (cervical spine), DT Hebron Fangupo (ankle), OG Zack Heberer (ankle), S Ryan McMahon (stinger), FB D.J. Shoemate (left hamstring), RB Dillon Baxter (right quad), OT Martin Coleman (right ankle)."
• O'Dowd returned to practice after the minor knee sprain he suffered on Thursday.
• Barkley was forced to run his second lap of spring after TJ McDonald picked him off in the endzone. I love the "shock-collar" tactics that Kiffin is employing here.
• Shareece Wright also got himself a pick in team drills, this one from Mitch Mustain.
• Brice Butler continued his strong spring with two touchdown grabs in the team drills.
• Here's the day 3 video practice report.

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• The Trojans were no doubt still recovering from the intense full contact practice on Saturday, because the consensus seemed to be that the whole team was flat on Tuesday. Lane: "They didn't come out in the right frame of mind, so we kinda restarted practice at one point."
• On a somewhat positive note, Kiffin also had this to say after practice "We got a good defensive line, I know that much. It's about all I know right now." Obviously it's not good that he doesn't know more, but a strong defensive line can get you a long way in college football. They are the foundation of a good defense. And our young group of linebackers will reap the rewards if Coach Kiffin is right.
• USC blogger Michael Lev was very impressed with redshirt freshman Torin Harris, whom he predicts will emerge as the second starting corner.
• Check out Tuesday's video practice report.

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• Barkley had thrown four picks in the last two practices but (luckily) didn't throw anymore on Thursday.
• Jordan "Jumpball" Cameron was the only healthy tight end available in practice, and made the most of it, snagging two touchdown grabs.
• Ronald Johnson, Kyle Prater, and Travon Patterson all caught touchdown passes from Mitch Mustain.
• Linebacker Jarvis Jones isn't expected to be medically cleared this spring for a neck injury he suffered last year. Safety Marshall Jones is also nursing a neck injury and he isn't expected back anytime soon either. You can really never be too safe with these kind of scary injuries.
• And of course, here's Thursday's video practice report.

(Photo - The RipsIt Blog)