The team was in good spirits in the last physical practice before the season opener.
- Abe Markowitz "moved around off the field," but he still did not practice, which leaves Jeremy Galten as the presumptive choice to start at left guard.
- "I'm so excited for Saturday!" Galten said. "It's a dream come true. They have not sat me down and flat out told me, but I've been taking reps with the ones."
- Galten admitted that he might be nervous, but he will have veterans on either side of him to lean on. "Either way, I've got Khaled [Holmes] to my right and I've got Matt Kalil to my left, so I'm surrounded by two great football players," he said.
The offensive line remains Lane Kiffin's greatest concern on this team. "That's a huge question mark," he admitted. "When your offensive line plays bad, it effects the health of your quarterback."- The coaching staff unveiled powder blue and gold scout team jerseys, which incensed the players forced to wear them. "Hopefully, they'll be motivated to get off service team," Kiffin joked.
- The players that don't have to don rival colors had a good laugh. "I guess they put them in UCLA jerseys, so we would see them as the enemy, but it was pretty funny at the time," RB Curtis McNeal said.
- The running back corps has a redemptive feel that runs through the group. From Curtis McNeal (academics) to D.J. Morgan (knee) and Dillon Baxter (discipline), the unit has worked hard to overcome last year's obstacles and now Saturday is the reward.
- "I've waited a long time," said Morgan who has not played a game in two years. "I'm a little jittery, but I think once I get out there and see the fans, I'm just going to be hyped and hopefully I remember everything I have to do."
- Kiffin has not named a starting running back. "Whoever is in there is going to get the job done, so the Trojan fans don't have to worry," Morgan quipped.
- The head coach is really pleased with the chemistry his team has developed over the last month. "I don't know how many wins it's going to equate to, but this team is very together. Very few individuals, very team atmosphere and very competitive."
- Here is the Kiffin's final presser before we can start talking about games...
"When your offensive line plays bad, it effects the health of your quarterback." Well said, coach. Well said.