Here are some USC football players who could surprise us

LOS ANGELES >> Is it possible for USC to have any surprise players when the Trojans are ranked No. 4 and one of the most scrutinized programs in the nation?

Even in the social media age, it is possible for players to exceed expectations or surprise the public. One of my picks is tight end Cary Angeline, a 6-foot-7 freshman who looks fast enough to be a receiver. Angeline might only make two or three catches per game, but they are liable to be memorable, especially around the goal line.

Defensively, an under-the-radar player is coerback Ykili Ross. USC has some soft spots at coerback and Ross is starting to make plays after being nearly invisible his first two seasons. But he could easily be in USC’s coerback rotation when the Trojans play Weste Michigan.

• USC will finally have its first-team offense play its first-team defense in a “mock game” Saturday, according to Coach Clay Helton. But it will be closed to the public and media, so we won’t know for sure if the offense can recover from its previous two scrimmages, when it struggled against the second-team defense.

• If you talk to a USC fan from the 1950’s, it is likely they will say “Jaguar” Jon Aett was their favorite tailback. He was an All-American and No. 2 pick in the first round of the 1957 NFL draft.

But like a lot of elite athletes, if you ask Aett which USC games he remembers most he immediately mentions a loss.

“The game I’ll never forget was the first time I played at Notre Dame (in 1954),” Aett said. “They beat us on a run by a guy named Jim Morse. I made the last missed-tackle on him.”

Notre Dame won the game, 23-17. But Aett has plenty of good memories too. In 1956, USC defeated Wisconsin at the Coliseum, 13-6.

“With two minutes to go in the game, I came up and tackled the running back and we won the game,” Aett said.

If you wonder why Aett remembers defensive plays, it’s because players went both ways in those days. He gained 182 yards in 25 carries against the Badgers.

• Former USC assistant coach Todd McNair’s lawsuit against the NCAA is scheduled to begin April 4, 2018. However, the parties are supposed to be involved in a settlement conference that must be completed before the end of December.

• Former USC kicker Matt Boermeester has a court date of Sept. 8 to fight his expulsion from the university. USC already changed judges in the case.

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• USC’s first All-American, offensive guard Brice Taylor in 1925, was also one of the first African-Americans to play for the Trojans. But after Taylor, there was not another African-American player until running back Addison Hawthoe in 1952. Prior to USC, Hawthoe was a star player at Pasadena City College.

• Stanford opens the season Saturday night against Rice in Sydney, Australia. The Cardinal then get a week off to recover from the time difference before facing USC at the Coliseum on Sept. 9.

• Walk-on linebacker Grant Moore received a scholarship last weekend. He is the son of former USC linebacker Rex Moore, who is most famous for throwing mud through the face mask of Notre Dame tailback Allen Pinkett during the 1984 game at the Coliseum.

“Never happened,” Rex Moore said. “If the refs didn’t call it, it never happened.”

• NBA scouts watching USC basketball are most interested in junior forward Chimezie Metu and sophomore guard De’Anthony Melton. That might surprise some who expected to hear junior forward Bennie Boatwright is one of the top two prospects. But Melton’s athleticism places him above Boatwright as a prospect.

• Sophomore point guard Derryck Thoton is finally eligible after he transferred from Duke. Sources say Thoton would be a backup if the season started today.

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