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When something seemingly loud happens, we can't help but stare. The momentum of attention, which of course can be monetized by the media, creates a hungry void that is filled with endless analysis. The end-result is a suffusion of broad statements of "This proves this!"

So we have USC quarterback Matt Barkley. It seems now we all should have seen Barkley's precipitous slide in the NFL draft coming. He would have been a top-10 pick in the 2012 draft, not the 98th overall selection he ended up being on Saturday, if he'd only been smart enough not to return to USC for his senior season.

I get it. Hindsight rocks. We'd all be rich, infinitely happy people if we could do a rewind and relive the past, knowing what we know after going through it once before.

With the benefit of hindsight, it's fair to say now that Barkley made a huge mistake. How huge? This is from Sports Illustrated's Peter King:

P.S.: Wondering what that extra year of school cost Barkley? He went 98th overall. Let's say he'd have been the eighth pick a year ago -- that's where Ryan Tannehill went. It's all speculation, of course. But the consensus was he'd have been a top 10 pick. Tannehill's deal: four years, $12.7 million. The 98th pick last year, Ravens center Gino Gradkowski, signed for four years and $2.58 million. Turns out it was a $10.1 million year of school for Matt Barkley.

Ouch.

You business school guys can pencil that out for us over a lifetime. Forget Barkley's second contract. You can't make up a $10.1 million hit.

So, yeah, bad call. Barkley undoubtedly will become a cautionary tale for future players who are debating whether to stay in school or enter the draft early. More than a few folks will insist that if there's a consensus first-round grade for a third-year player, returning merely to make a run at being the first overall pick or a top-10 pick is not a good idea.

Support for that notion comes from the evaluative distance between the end of the regular season and the actual draft. So much happens between December and April that a player, particularly one with great athletic measurables, can dramatically influence the affections of NFL scouts and GMs.

Still, let's look at the Barkley who stood in front of a Christmas tree in December 2011 and smoothly announced his return to USC.

• There was seemingly no question at that point he would be, at best, the third QB chosen behind Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III. Further, you'd think that some of his supposed red flags -- arm strength and foot quickness -- would have revealed themselves at the NFL combine and during workouts, so it's even questionable that he would have won out over Tannehill.
• Go back to your December 2011 self. Who was the best college QB in the nation? There was Barkley and then a whole bunch of "Who?" and "Neh." Phil Steele's ranking of QBs after Barkley in advance of the season: 2.Tyler Wilson, Arkansas; 3. Landry Jones, Oklahoma; 4. Logan Thomas, Virginia Tech; 5. Tyler Bray, Tennessee.
• Ergo, his rating as the top overall QB entering 2012, based on three years as a starter, seemed absolutely secure.
• Then there were the Trojans around him: 18 starters back from a team that went 10-2 and won at Oregon. That included four starters on the offensive line to protect him and the best tandem of college receivers in recent memory: Robert Woods and Marqise Lee.

There were only two potential red flags at the time: 1. Injury; 2. The unknown. Both ended up contributing to Barkley's slip.

"The unknown" includes that old scouting adage that a guy can have "too much film." If a guy duplicates his great play from a previous season, scouts will wonder why he didn't dramatically improve. And woe unto him whose numbers drop.

But the now-marginalized reasons for Barkley's return also were sound:

• Win the Heisman Trophy.
• Win the national title.
• Enjoy another year of college as USC's QB, which is a nice thing to carry around the idyllic campus, before taking on real world stresses of playing a game for a living.
• Become the first QB taken in the 2013 draft, which is typically in the higher reaches of the top-10.

At the time Barkley made his decision to stick around, there were few naysayers about his and his team's prospects. That everything went so completely rear-end-over-tea-kettle still boggles the mind if you aren't one of those people who pretends you saw it all coming a year ago.


All this said, with a few exceptions, my long-held belief on this is a player should enter the draft as soon as possible. "Stay in school!" sounds nice, but a guy can always go back to school.

That position, however, is not all about merely jumping into the draft when your stock is seemingly high. It's also about age. It's better to start earning a (substantial) paycheck at, say, 21 than 22, if it is available to you. The career clock doesn't tick very long in the NFL, and an extra couple of million can help later in life.

Consider two Pac-12 players who had less fanfare this draft cycle but are probably nearly as disappointed as Barkley: Oregon RB Kenjon Barner and Stanford OLB Chase Thomas.

Both opted to return for their senior seasons in order to improve their NFL draft prospects. It appears neither did, with Barner going in the sixth round and Thomas going undrafted. My hunch is they would have done better last spring.

Both now have an additional year of wear-and-tear on the bodies without getting paid, which is particularly an issue for Barner because running backs see their productivity drop substantially at 30. Barner just turned 24.

Ultimately, a disappointing draft doesn't make or break an NFL career. Ask Tom Brady. I think just about every conversation I had with former Seattle Seahawks QB Matt Hasselbeck circled back to his annoyance at being picked in the sixth round, watching QBs he felt were inferior to him get picked before him.

Barkley, who has seemingly led a charmed life at quarterback, might get a boost from having a chip on his shoulder (a Chip Kelly one, at that). Maybe "Angry Matt" will turn out better than "Breezy Matt."

The NFL draft is often confounding. It is laden with risk and reward on both sides of the process. Barkley took on a defensible risk and things didn't go as he hoped. That's notable, but it's also an annual occurrence.

As for Barkley, you'd think that at some point in his life he will encounter a greater adversity than being picked in the fourth round of the NFL draft.

USC will be playing a prime time game at Notre Dame Stadium once again.

Notre Dame announced Wednesday that its Oct. 19 home tilt with the rival Trojans will kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET, marking the third straight season that the Irish will host a night game.

Notre Dame beat visiting Michigan, 13-6, last season in prime time and lost to USC, 31-17, in 2011 in the school's first home night contest in 21 years.

As for the rest of the home start times, it's business as usual: The other five games at Notre Dame Stadium are airing at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

The Oct. 5 Shamrock Series contest against Arizona State in Arlington, Texas, will kick at 6:30 p.m. CT and air on NBC.

Road games at Michigan (Sept. 7), Purdue (Sept. 14) and Pitt (Nov. 9) will all air on an ABC or ESPN affiliate, while the Oct. 26 tilt at Air Force will air on CBS Sports Network.

The Nov. 30 season finale at Stanford will air on Fox, which was announced in March.

Start times for Notre Dame's five true road contests have yet to be announced.

Say what you want about the flagging reputations of former USC quarterbacks, but at least they keep things interesting.

One of the big questions for the 2013 NFL draft this week is the fate of Matt Barkley. Will he still get picked in the first round or will his stock continue to tumble?

Barkley seemed to -- finally? -- reveal some frustrations this week in a series of interviews in which he questioned coach Lane Kiffin's play-calling in 2012.

See here. And here.

But he wasn't the only former Trojan making news.

Mark Sanchez spoke up about the New York Jets acquiring Tim Tebow last year, and the media circus that the organization seemed to embrace. That, of course, created a new, if more modulated, media circus.

That wasn't the oddest bit of "news."

Former USC quarterback Mitch Mustain, who backed up Sanchez and Barkley after transferring from Arkansas, is the subject of a new documentary. It's narrated by former Arkansas basketball coach Nolan Richardson, which adds to a slightly strange texture in itself.

What's it about? Well, it's called "The Identity Theft of Mitch Mustain," which strikes me as a bit melodramatic. Mustain, who had an undeniably live arm, had one problem: His ability to select football programs.

When Mustain decided to leave Arkansas, where he was mismatched with head coach Houston Nutt, he could have become the starter for about 100 or so teams. But he chose USC, which simply had better quarterbacks on hand. End of story, at least on the USC end.

The Arkansas stuff, however, is fairly rich.

Meanwhile, Matt Leinart is a free agent, Carson Palmer signed with Arizona -- perhaps to be closer to the Pac-12 blog -- Matt Cassel is with the Minnesota Vikings, Aaron Corp is on the Buffalo Bills roster and John David Booty is out of the league.

Not many schools can list so many NFL QBs, but that operates as a negative when the success rate is so low.

The cumulative affect of all this mediocrity and odd drama -- fair or unfair -- is freight for Barkley.

His draft stock is not just about a disappointing season and over-heated questions about his arm strength, which is certainly NFL-adequate. It's guilt by association: USC QBs and their recent history in the NFL is pretty lousy.

USC's QB past shouldn't mean that much. Barkley should be evaluated, positively or negatively, on what he has done, who he is and his potential. But that dubious lineage will make more than a few NFL GMs skittish.

But all it takes is for Barkley to end up back in the first round. We shall see.

LOS ANGELES -- Marqise Lee is going to have to get used to change. Because in 2013, a lot is going to be different for college football's reigning Biletnikoff Award winner.

No longer will he have a four-year starting quarterback in Matt Barkley tossing him passes. Nor will he simply be a complementary piece in a receiving duo.

Perhaps most importantly, he's going to have to adjust to the fact that without Barkley his numbers will likely take a hit, regardless of which of the three green quarterbacks wins USC's starting job.

"I think a lot of what Marqise has to do is going to be mental," said USC coach Lane Kiffin. "He's going to have to be able to handle the expectations and the potential knowing that his numbers won't be what they were. That can be frustrating as you go through a new quarterback. He's not just a premier receiver, but the best receiver in the country. He's someone that is going to be talked about for the Heisman and, unfortunately at his position, someone else controls your destiny."

In 2012, Lee led the nation or was in the top three in almost every receiving category. He caught 118 balls for 1,721 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns. There are few who question that in 2013 he is the single-most dangerous skill-position player in college football.

"I believe in my quarterback -- whoever it's going to be," Lee said. "If you're out there, that means you are capable of getting the job done. If the ball gets to me, I'm going to do whatever I can to make things happen. I've never been focused on the numbers. I've been about helping our team win. You get distracted when you start thinking about numbers. Whatever I have to do to help us win -- catch that last pass, or not have any catches and spring a guy with a good block -- that's what I'm going to do."

His would-be quarterbacks hear the rumblings, too -- the whispers that Lee's Heisman campaign might sink because a rookie quarterback will be running the offense. And, yes, they take that personally.

"With us being young, people are going to say that," said Cody Kessler, who is in the thick of the quarterback competition with Max Wittek and Max Browne. "But we've been training hard. We've been studying Matt for two years. Our job is to get Marqise the ball and let him make plays. If we keep improving, I don't see any reason why he can't do what he did last year -- or better. So, yeah, we take that personally."

Clouding the issue is that without Robert Woods opposite him, more teams are going to double-team Lee. Then again ...

"Throwing to him is like throwing to a 20-foot net," Kessler said. "He's a freak of nature. It's unreal how athletic he is."

As long as Lee has been with the Trojans, he's always been part of a tandem with Woods. Even back in high school, it was George Farmer and Lee. Now Lee is the lone No. 1. The headliner.

"That's a way different role," Lee said. "I enjoyed being part of a duo. Robert was always the guy. I just came in and helped. I'm in a situation now where I'm sitting in Robert's chair. I know teams are going to try to cover me harder. And if they do, that's fine. I'll watch someone else score touchdowns."

Lee also knows the expectations -- the kind that aren't on the football field -- will grow exponentially this year. A lot of people are going to want to get close to him. Get a piece of him. Because waiting at the end of the 2013 season is a probable top-10 spot in the 2014 NFL draft.

"He's a very mature young man," Kiffin said. "For him, managing his daily life is the theme with him and I. Right now, especially this fall, there is no one else around him that is like him. He has so much to gain and so much to lose. Nobody else is like that. No roommates or other players.

"He doesn't get to be like everybody else. He's been given a lot. There are a lot of expectations around him. He has to make sure everything he does is solely based on academics and football. People will want to hang out with him and tug at him and tell him how great he is. We have to make sure he has great focus."

Lee said he's had the conversation with Kiffin and he understands his responsibilities to the team -- and himself.

"All the awards, all of that is in the past," Lee said. "I've set my goals. I don't pay attention to people who want to get at me. I'm paying attention to school and football and pushing everything else aside."

Last week, Wittek was walking through the new John McKay Center and noticed Lee's All-American plaque being hung on the wall alongside all of the other Trojans who have earned the honor. Seeing that made him realize how much easier his life will be if he wins the starting job.

"When you see him do some of the things he does, you realize just how special he is," Wittek said. "I may never see another athlete like him for the rest of my life. He's that kind of player."

 
Kevin Gemmell talks with new USC defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast about the Trojans' transition to an odd-front defense.

 
Kevin Gemmell talks with USC coach Lane Kiffin about moving on from 2012, the quarterback competition and the buzz around Marqise Lee.

The hype machine works both ways. Take USC quarterback Matt Barkley. He went from "The Second Coming" to "The Biggest Loser" in just one football season, at least according to many fans.

Neither estimation accurately describes Barkley. The reality, however, is he's closer to the former than the latter, something that more than a few folks seem to be figuring out.

Barkley didn't have a great season in 2012, but his season was better than about 90 percent of the quarterbacks in the nation. And he's still going to be an early round NFL draft pick.

Former Washington quarterback and current ESPN analyst Brock Huard picks up this very subject:

While there are plenty of reasons for the Trojans' fall, including depth and injury issues and defensive gaffes and meltdowns, Barkley can't make excuses. So I'll make them for him, and explain why I think that after his pro day workout at USC on Wednesday, NFL teams will begin to agree with what I already believe to be the case: that Barkley should be the first quarterback selected in this year's draft.

Huard takes the measure of Barkley in five ways: Throws downfield, third-down passing, red zone productivity, movement passing and durability and availability.

First, Huard points out that Barkley was: 1. A better downfield passer than Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III; and, 2. Better on third down in 2012 than in 2011.

Red zone? How about this: "... over the last two seasons Barkley's 42 touchdown passes on 116 attempts in the red zone speak loudly to the signal-caller's vast experience and productivity in that part of the field. Over that same stretch, Barkley was intercepted and sacked just three times."

Movement passing? Barkley's numbers outside the pocket and against blitzes are outstanding.

As for durability, Huard notes Barkley started "47 of 51 games over his four years in Los Angeles."

Finally, Huard alludes to strong intangibles. Barkley has seen a lot as a four-year starter in the premier job in college football, and he's a good leader.

The take-away is simple: While USC had an epically disappointing 2012 season, and much of the blame for that -- fair or unfair -- fell on Barkley, it's still possible he ends up becoming a first-round NFL draft pick this spring.

LOS ANGELES -- The three-man race is back on. Not that it was ever really off. But when USC quarterback Max Wittek took an unscheduled hiatus to nurse a sprained medial collateral ligament, it gave Cody Kessler and early enrollee Max Browne an opportunity to gain some ground on the only USC quarterback with playing experience.

“You never want to see any of your teammates going down, but stuff like that happens,” Kessler said. “But when it does, there are more reps for me and Max (Browne). Our reps doubled with Max going down. I just have this mindset right now of staying so focused and stuck on one goal. You feel like nothing gets in your way. You know when you get in that zone? You’re so focused. Those guys will say they have the same mindset. That nothing can stop you. I feel like I’ve been locked into that mindset.”

All three are vying to replace Matt Barkley -- a four-year starter who holds the Pac-12 record for most career touchdown passes. And while Barkley is showing off his wares for NFL brass at today’s USC pro day, the trio of would-be starters is continuing a competition that is expected to stretch well into the fall.

It’s been three weeks off for Wittek -- three missed practices and then spring break. So getting back on the field Tuesday was a positive step. Not, though, that his time on the sidelines was wasted.

“I got a lot of work in the film room,” Wittek said. “Not playing gave me an opportunity to see how the other guys work and learn from what they do well and their mistakes -- just as I’m sure they learn from my mistakes. It’s been a good process, being able to look at things from a different perspective.”

But his first practice back happened to be on a day when the defensive front seven was playing inspired football. The defense dominated the line of scrimmage, and cornerback Torin Harris was all over the secondary with three pass breakups in a 10-play span.

Head coach Lane Kiffin assessed Wittek’s return.

“Not 100 percent. You could see he’s struggling a little bit with it -- even just in one-on-ones,” Kiffin said. “It’s nothing that is going to be long-term. It will get better every day.”

Wittek appeared in five games last season -- including starting the final two games, when Barkley was injured. For the season, he completed 52.2 percent of his throws with three touchdowns to five interceptions. In the two starts -- against Notre Dame in the regular-season finale and against Georgia Tech in the Sun Bowl -- those numbers dip to a 46.7 percent completion rate with two touchdowns and five picks.

Those two games at the end of the season might have been Wittek’s audition -- or, at the very least, might have helped the competition supplant him as the front-runner for 2013. He doesn’t look at it like that.

“A lot of people see it as a lost opportunity,” Wittek said. “I see it as a big-time learning experience. Those were two games I never would have gotten had the opportunity not presented itself. Being able to get in those games, play -- good, bad or indifferent -- I was in there and felt what it was like be in front of a large crowd in on a nationally televised stage.

“The Georgia Tech game, obviously not my best game ever; it was pretty bad, actually -- but walking away from that game, it was kind of cool,” Wittek continued. "I didn’t play as well as I could of. We lost the game. But when I think about the opportunities still to come, I got excited. I was able to go back and watch that game three or four times over and I saw where I could have improved. … Situational football is what I took away from it. I’m looking forward to bringing what I’ve learned to the table and growing from that.”

In Wittek’s absence, Kessler has made a big push, performing well in a pair of scrimmages. And Browne continues to make the most of his opportunities -- taking advantage of the fact that this is technically the second half of his senior year in high school.

“You get in here, learn the offense and you get to make your mistakes early,” Browne said. “So come summer and fall, you get your chance to compete. Academically and athletically it’s a good jump start. I’ve had some struggles early, but people keep saying that’s normal. My first few weeks with the playbook, it’s been pretty good. I came in knowing there were going to be two great quarterbacks and that’s what I found out. I feel like it’s been a healthy competition.”

While quarterback competitions are typically front-and-center during Pac-12 spring practices, there are always other interesting spring storylines.

Here are two.

Ted Miller: It was a horrible, no-good, rotten, very bad 2012 season for USC coach Lane Kiffin. And the 2012-13 offseason has been no picnic either. Some Trojans fans wanted Kiffin fired. Just about all were frustrated. Justifiably so, by the way.

Lane: Welcome to spring, the season for rebirth! Time to turn the page. Or, perhaps, pick up an entirely new book.

At the very least, the situation at USC is interesting. One of the nation's premier programs is front-and-center for many of the wrong reasons, but there is enough talent on hand for Kiffin to turn things around and shut up his critics.

Interesting plot lines? Kiffin will be breaking in four new assistant coaches, including a pair of new coordinators, his defense will be transitioning from a 4-3 base to a 3-4, and he's looking for a new quarterback for the first time in his tenure.

There's a lot going on. Lots of questions. Lots of doubt, too. Yet negative momentum isn't irreversible.

What if the Trojans have an exceptional spring?

What if Clancy Pendergast shakes things up and, suddenly, the defensive guys are playing hard and fast in a sound scheme they understand? And what if the offense, nonetheless, makes plenty of plays because the quarterbacks are sharp and the line is manning up? What if the fitness level of the Trojans improves? What if offensive tackle Aundrey Walker breaks through, realizing his future NFL contract will be based on performance, not measurables? What if Devon Kennard proves a perfect fit as a 3-4 outside linebacker, as we believe he is? What if guys like Marqise Lee, Hayes Pullard, Silas Redd, Dion Bailey and Kevin Graf step up as leaders? What if receivers George Farmer and Victor Blackwell decide they don't want to be left in the dust behind Lee and Nelson Agholor? What if running back Tre Madden says, "Hey, remember me?"

What if Kiffin simultaneously refocuses and relaxes? What if he uses his capable brain to be smart, not a smart aleck, to be creative, not sneaky? What if he realizes the media is not an enemy, but just a bunch of folks trying to do their job whom he should humor with vague though sometimes amusing answers?

There are a lot of "What ifs?" with USC and Kiffin. It's not difficult, by the way, to talk yourself into believing a bounce-back is entirely possible.

That's what is interesting. Kiffin 2.0 was 2010 and 2011, when he seemed to find his rhythm as a coach after controversial stints with the Oakland Raiders and Tennessee Volunteers. Kiffin 3.0, was 2012, a complete face-plant.

This spring presents us with Kiffin 4.0. It could prove to be the most important transition of his career as a head coach.

And that is interesting.

Kevin Gemmell: Besides quarterback battles -- which I think are always the most exciting position battles there are -- I'm most curious to see how the running back battle is going to play out at Stanford.

When you look at a Stanford squad that is very heavy on upperclassmen -- on both sides of the ball -- you have to wonder if all of the pieces are in place for Stanford to make a legitimate run at the national championship.

I wasn't sure before, but with the addition of Tyler Gaffney to the running back corps, I'm warming up to the idea that the Cardinal could challenge any team in the country for a BCS championship -- if they can get out of their own conference (or division for that matter) -- which anyone will tell you is no easy task.

It's no surprise that Stanford's primary offensive weapon is the quarterback. Not because of what he does with his arm -- but because of what he does when he goes under center -- checking out of bad plays and putting the offense in the best possible play against the defense shown. This allows running backs to flourish. Andrew Luck was phenomenal at it. Kevin Hogan should get better.

So, when Hogan turns to handoff on power right or power left, who is going to be the primary ball carrier? Anthony Wilkerson has shown bursts and outstanding top-end speed. But injuries have slowed him, and playing behind Stepfan Taylor the past few years didn't allow him to really break out following his strong true freshman season. Gaffney is a rock and hard to bring down. He's the kind of guy who could carry the ball 10 times for 4.5 yards a pop.

Barry Sanders is an interesting X-factor. He obviously was a high-profile recruit because of his name -- but beyond that, he's supposedly a pretty darn good back. Maybe he ends up winning the job and can be a 15-carry type of guy.

Then you have Ricky Seale, a shifty runner with great vision who has been trapped at the bottom of the depth chart, but continues to receive praise from David Shaw. Remound Wright and hybrid Kelsey Young are also in the mix.

Whoever is Shaw's go-to back, he'll have the benefit of running behind an outstanding offensive line that is only going to get better with David Yankey -- an All-American and last year's Morris Trophy winner -- moving back to his natural position at guard. And Shaw has said he plans to keep Ryan Hewitt at fullback -- giving the running backs a cadre of blockers that rivals any other in the country.

By season's end, this could be your national championship team. The question is, which back will carry it there?

USC coach Lane Kiffin has reconfigured his coaching staff with the official announcement -- many of the hirings were reported over the past few days -- of three new coaches: Mike Ekeler (linebackers), Mike Summers (offensive line) and Tommie Robinson (running backs).

Toss in defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast, and four of Kiffin's nine assistants will be new in 2013. Quarterbacks coach Clay Helton also has been promoted to offensive coordinator.

The million dollar question, however, has not been answered: Who will call plays?

There's an overwhelming feeling around the program Kiffin should relinquish those responsibilities so he can better focus on the overall management of his team, something he fell short of doing during a horrible 2012 downward spiral from preseason No. 1. And his play-calling itself wasn't exactly inspired.

Here's a guess that the official word will be something to the tune of, "It's collaborative ... with Kiffin having final say."

A couple of further housecleaning moves: Special teams coach John Baxter will now also coach tight ends, and James Cregg, formerly the offensive line coach, will be co-offensive line coach with Summers, though Summers is the supervisor.

Summers was also named "running game coordinator," and Robinson, despite coaching running backs, will be "passing game coordinator."

The Trojans now have three coaches with "coordinator" in their title and two offensive line coaches. Here's a further overview.

"With so many young offensive linemen who will be so important to our success, I felt it was critical to have two coaches working with this group," Kiffin said in a statement. "It was a natural step to have John Baxter work with the tight ends because he has coached that position for much of his career."

Further, defensive line coach Ed Orgeron, who was called the Trojans "defensive coordinator" last year even though he wasn't -- Monte Kiffin was -- will now be the "assistant head coach," the title held by Monte Kiffin, even though he was defensive coordinator.

Yes, if you were a cynical sort you could say the USC staff has become bogged down in semantics. That also could fall into the realm of Lane Kiffin focusing too much energy on things that matter not a whit and don't help you win football games.

The Pac-12 blog feels if you have a budding assistant coach who wants to be called something that makes his job definition less accurate -- a running backs coach as passing game coordinator? -- you should not hire him.

This staff also is imbalanced with six titled coaches working on offense and three titled coaches on defense -- presumably Pendergast will coach the entire secondary. That means graduate assistants will be called in -- again -- to fill important gaps.

Of course, it could work. Perhaps Kiffin has a well-planned vision of how this will all mesh together in 2013 and onward and cool his decidedly hot seat.

Athletic director Pat Haden has stood by Kiffin. He's allowed him to make important decisions and run the program as Kiffin sees fit. Raised eyebrows from fans and the Pac-12 blog ultimately don't matter.

If Kiffin and USC win eight, nine or 10 games in 2013, he'll likely be secure. Winning, as we all know, solves everything in college football.

But if Kiffin were hoping for a burst of enthusiasm from folks observing his reconfigured staff, this execution is not likely to get it.

Once lauded as the preseason No. 1 with the Heisman Trophy favorite at quarterback, the USC football program sank to historic depths in 2012. What's the state of the program and is the sky falling on USC? Your bloggers debate:

Ted Miller: Is the sky falling for USC? Maybe just a little, at least if you believe in momentum.

In August, the Trojans were ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press poll. They were rolling with the nation's No. 1 recruiting class. Quarterback Matt Barkley was the golden boy of the preseason, the top Heisman candidate, lauded for his unselfish decision to return for his senior season. And coach Lane Kiffin, after leading the Trojans to a 10-2 finish in 2011, seemed to be well on his way to proving his skeptics wrong and rewriting the story of his coaching career.

Now, in February, USC is coming off a 7-6 season, the first time a preseason No. 1 team lost six games. It lost five of its final six games, including an execrable performance against middling Georgia Tech in the Sun Bowl. After the game, there was a locker-room altercation that involved some players bad-mouthing Barkley. Further, Kiffin has been -- fairly -- blamed for the collapse, and many of his actions during the season served to reinforce his image as a guy obsessed with working the angles instead of focusing on the details. All this serves to put Kiffin on perhaps the hottest seat in the nation heading into 2013.

Further, the recruiting class, the one constant during the surprising losing, ended up ranked 14th in the nation after several players decommitted. A handful of those decommitted players added salt to the Trojans' wounds by signing with rivals UCLA and Notre Dame.

Why did they decommit? The reasons are likely to be specific to the individual athlete, but it's fair to say that the program's fall from grace and Kiffin's uncertain status played a role.

The program was perceived in a much different way in August than it is today. The considerable momentum of the preseason has reversed. Considerably.

Of course, USC still signed an outstanding recruiting class, with 12 of the 13 members earning four stars and nine ranking among the nation's top 150 players. The present negative momentum can be quickly reversed with a fast start to the season. If Kiffin wins nine or 10 games, he'll probably be back in 2014, especially if he can beat UCLA and Notre Dame in the process -- and the Bruins in particular.

So, really, the sky is not falling over Heritage Hall.

But it is definitely blocked by dark, threatening clouds no USC fan likes to see.

Kevin Gemmell: No, the sky is not falling on USC. And I'll tell you why. There aren't many schools in the country that finish 7-6 and can bring in a recruiting haul -- considered by some to actually be a disappointment -- like the Trojans did earlier this week. There aren't a lot of schools that can look as bad as the Trojans did in 2012 and still ink six players rated in the top six for their positions nationally -- including the Nos. 1 and 3 safeties, the No. 2 pocket passer and the No. 3 defensive tackle. USC is a brand name and is always going to attract elite recruits. Even in the worst of times. And it can't get much worse than it did last season.

I've been very critical of the 2012 edition of USC football. In a word, it stunk. It was like watching a train wreck crash into a train wreck that crashed into a manure pile. For whatever reason, despite an abundance of talent, the chemistry proved toxic. Kiffin has, rightfully so, shouldered the lion's share of the blame.

All that said, with the talent USC has on its roster as of today, the Trojans can win at least nine games in 2013 (pause for laughter). I say again, the Trojans can win more games in 2013 than the team with Barkley, Robert Woods, Khaled Holmes, Nickell Robey and T.J. McDonald.

Bad years -- for whatever reason -- happen. But folks weren't screaming to fire Kiffin when he took over a program on probation and went 18-7 in his first two seasons -- including the aforementioned 10-win campaign in 2011. People weren't calling for his head when the Trojans won at Autzen Stadium in 2011 -- something only one other Pac-12 team has been able to do since 2008.

What made 2012 so much worse than it should have been were the off-field issues that came across as bush league. Those are easily corrected. You know how? Stop doing stupid things off the field! That should do the trick. And while we're at it, stupid things on the field don't work that well either. Free tip.

The spotlight won't be nearly as bright in 2013 as it was in 2012. The Trojans will probably start off in the preseason top 25. Maybe they even sneak into the top 20. That's a lot more psychologically manageable than No. 1. The schedule sets up nicely with four very winnable games before the Trojans travel to Arizona State at the end of September for their first Pac-12 South showdown. Then they get a week and a half to prep for Arizona and an extra two days to prep for Notre Dame. More importantly, it gets a lot of young players time to get acclimated. There is also a lot of returning talent that saw a great deal of playing time in 2012 -- for better or worse.

As of Feb. 8, 2013, I'm not sure who is going to win the Pac-12 South. I might give a slight edge to either Arizona State or UCLA. But discounting the Trojans is just foolishness. No, USC fans, the sky is not falling. Sometimes you just have to put the past behind you and -- as you folks say -- fight on.

USC signed 13 players for its 2013 recruiting class, though only six signed on Wednesday.

Seven signees have already enrolled in school and will participate in spring practices. Nine players in USC’s class were listed among the ESPN 150 (and eight were among ESPN’s top 100).

You can view the official list here.

And here's the list from ESPN recruiting.

UCLA already beat USC on the field this past season. What if the Bruins follow that up by beating the Trojans on national signing day?

Will that mean the, ahem, football monopoly in Los Angeles is officially over?

Or maybe we should go this way?

Sorry to bring up that bit of crass and ill-fated marketing -- and certainly not Rick Neuheisel's idea -- but things are clearly trending in different ways for the archrivals.

The latest uptick for UCLA and blow for USC was the switcheroo by defensive end Kylie Fitts (Redlands, Calif./Redlands East Valley), who was once slated to be an early enrollee at USC before the rug was pulled out from under him at the eleventh hour when Trojans coaches told him there wasn't enough space. He announced Tuesday he's now going to enroll early at UCLA, where he will participate in spring practices.

Will that be the first big win for UCLA as we head into national signing day? And it, by the way, wasn't the only big loss for USC.

The Bruins could also land ESPN 150 prospects Eddie Vanderdoes, Isaac Savaiinaea and Asiantii Woulard on Wednesday. That likely would give them a top-five class nationally, one that would top the Pac-12.

And, most notably, eclipse the Trojans.

UCLA fans are loving coach Jim Mora. USC fans are not happy with Lane Kiffin. USC was the 2012 preseason No. 1. UCLA ended up No. 1 in the South Division, beating the Trojans 38-28 in the process of taking home the victory bell.

USC is going to sign a good class. With NCAA scholarship limits, the Trojans are working with 10 fewer scholarships. One could argue they should have a worse class than UCLA.

Not sure if that argument would rate as much consolation among USC fans.

The big name to watch is Vanderdoes, who could spurn the Pac-12 entirely and sign with Alabama. He will make his decision at 8 p.m. ET, 5 p.m. PT.

It could be an interesting day in the City of Angles.

Er, Angels.