Despite the dark clouds hanging overhead, the scene Monday at Howard Jones Field was perfectly clear.
The usual assembled media flanked Pete Carroll as he fielded questions that seemed to be directed solely at the health of his wounded players.
How hurt is Terrell Thomas? Will Sam Baker play? Is Cushing ready? How about Rey? Will Chilo be back for the trip to South Bend?
Carroll responded back, one after the other: We are taking precautionary measures with Terrell. Sam says he will. Cush hopes he can. Rey is getting an MRI. Chilo will test his knee this week.
He seems all too used to this line of questioning.
This is not Carroll doing his best Bill Belichick impersonation of listing his players as questionable to throw off an opponent's game plan. USC is hurting.
What once seemed like a fun challenge for the Trojans talented roster, giving otherwise benchwarmers a chance to see the field and test the laws of synergy, has become a real problem for a program whose injuries have left it without an identity or sense of cohesion.
Excuse the hyperbole, but Heritage Hall has become an infirmary ward.
USC's injuries have effectively knocked the Trojans out of national title contention, barring a major shake-up in the top 5, and have put its conference championship and Rose Bowl ambitions in jeopardy.
It's been made painstakingly clear for USC fans over the last few weeks that this year's incarnation of the mighty Trojans is not the vintage USC form of yesteryear - by vintage, that is to say, two years ago.
But what is hurting this team - rather literally - is that these are not even the same Trojans of two months ago.
The fact of the matter is, this is not the same Trojans of last week or the week before that or the week before that, and you can expect USC version 7.0 to take the field against the Irish on Saturday.
"We have to figure out the roster [for this weekend against Notre Dame]. The roster is a little tentative right now," Carroll said after practice.
That is quite a precarious situation to be in halfway through the season for the Trojans and their supposedly bottomless depth chart.
USC, however, has yet to field the same offensive or defensive unit in any two games this year.
It seems like it might just be that type of season for the mighty Trojans as the pesky injury bug added insult to injury on the final drive of the game against Arizona when both Kyle Moore and Thomas went down.
"I don't think we've ever had this many [injuries], particularly on the offensive line it seems like," Carroll said with one hand clutching the back of his neck. "I think that's the one position that's been really hammered. And we did not have a lot of numbers there to start with, we weren't quite three deep there going into camp."
The familiar three horns that signal the end of each practice had rang through the air of the northwest corner of campus nearly 25 minutes ago, but offensive line coach Pat Ruel was still at it, trying to find able bodies to salvage his injury-ravaged line.
"I know it seems like we are struggling with injuries, but we are getting players back, too," Carroll said in the understatement of the season.
Behind Carroll there is Ruel, working with Gerald Washington on zone-blocking techniques, trying to prepare the tight end-turned-defensive end to moonlight as an offensive lineman "in an emergency situation" according to Carroll.
Sounds dicey, considering Washington is currently the second or third defensive end off the bench with Moore potentially sidelined.
If you are looking for a silver lining in all of the injuries piling up, it has to be that Jeff Byers is still relatively "healthy."
Byers, who has spent the better part of the last two seasons nursing hip and back ailments, has been the only offensive lineman who started against Idaho to still be in the first unit going to South Bend.
"We just got to continue to fight the fight to stay healthy. We've been calling ourselves the 'band of brothers,' because all we got is ourselves right now," Byers said, a hard cast protecting his right hand.
Remember, relatively "healthy."
But that is all USC version 7.0 has to lean on.
- To comment on this story, visit www.dailytrojan.com or e-mail Andrew at andrewfi@usc.edu.
