Lost beneath the positives of the win over Washington State was yet another loss in the Trojans starting secondary. Junior cornerback Cary Harris dislocated his shoulder defending a pass intended for Cougars wide receiver Brandon Gibson in the end zone in the first quarter.
"I was going for the ball, and my hand got caught in front of me, and it popped out," Harris said. "I was going to try to play another play but I just had to wait for the doctors to come out and put it back in."
Sophomore Shareece Wright filled in at cornerback for the rest of the game, getting the first extended game action of his career. Harris is scheduled to have an MRI today that will determine the extent of his injury and how much time he will miss.
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Junior linebacker Brian Cushing tweaked his already sprained ankle, forcing him to leave the game early. He said he would undergo an MRI on Sunday.
"Its just sore right now," Cushing said. "There's a lot of stuff going on down there right now that I'm not sure [about]. It definitely doesn't feel as bad as the first time I did it.
"I expected something like this to happen because of the injury, and they told me something like this might happen."
Cushing, however, did praise the other linebackers who have stepped up for the Trojans in his absence.
"They're doing a great job," Cushing said. "We knew at the beginning that our twos and our threes can be playing anywhere as [starters]. That's something special about this team."
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Returning from injury, sixth-year senior Hershel Dennis saw his first game action since 2004. Dennis suffered two season-ending knee injuries following the 2004 season that prevented him from playing. Dennis ran four times for 14 yards in the fourth quarter.
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Noticeably absent from the Trojans' backfield Saturday night was C.J. Gable. After starting the season opener against Idaho, Gable carried the ball only once for six yards. A week after getting only four carries and not playing in the second half against Nebraska, Gable saw nearly all of his action returning kicks.
"That's the hardest part with this thing is there's so many guys," offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian said. "Tonight wasn't his night. Next week at Washington, it may be his night. That's always a challenge and it's unfortunate C.J. didn't get more opportunities, but you never know next week."
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A week ago against Nebraska, the Trojans' offensive line led the way by opening up big holes en route to racking up 313 yards rushing.
This week, it was the line's pass blocking that played a key part in giving quarterback John David Booty enough time to find open receivers. Booty finished with 279 yards passing while only being sacked once.
"Whatever they call, we're ready to go," junior guard Jeff Byers said. "We're a real feisty group. We love to run the ball. We love to pass the ball. As long as we're hitting guys, we're happy."
Byers started the game at center because freshman Kris O'Dowd was late for a team meeting. Alatini Malu started at Byers' normal spot at left guard.
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Washington State won the opening coin toss Saturday and deferred its option to the second half.
USC was then forced to elect to receive the opening kickoff.
USC coach Pete Carroll is known for his preference to kick in the first half and receive in the second half.
Saturday marked the first time since the 2006 Rose Bowl against Texas that the Trojans received the opening kickoff - a span of 14 games (not including the kickoff snafu against Nebraska).
The probability of kicking off 14 games in a row is less than 5 percent.
