T.J. McDonald Class: Junior Hometown: Fresno, Ca. High School: Edison Height / Weight: 6-3 / 205 Position: S Birthdate: 01/26/1991 Experience: 2V

CAREER: He has 96 tackles, including 3 for losses, and 3 interceptions in his career. He has 12 career starts.

2011: McDonald, whose father was an All-American safety at USC, returns for his second season starting at free safety as a junior in 2011 after leading the Trojans in tackles in 2010.

2010: McDonald was USC's starting free safety as a sophomore in 2010 and had an outstanding showing. Overall in 2010 while starting 12 games (he missed the UCLA game with a shoulder injury), he had a team-high 89 tackles, including 3 for losses (with a sack), plus 4 deflections, 3 interceptions and a blocked punt. He made the 2010 All-Pac-10 second team, Scout.com All-Pac-10 first team and Phil Steele All-Pac-10 first team. He had surgery on his ankle prior to 2010 spring practice.

He had 4 stops with a deflection at Hawaii, then a game-best 14 tackles with an interception (in the end zone) and a deflection against Virginia, 7 tackles (with a sack) at Minnesota, 6 tackles (1 for a loss) and an interception that he ran back 20 yards at Washington State and a game-best 11 tackles against Washington. He added 4 tackles at Stanford, 3 tackles and an interception (to set up a USC TD) against California and 6 tackles (1 for a loss) and a deflection against Oregon. He had a game-high 13 tackles and blocked a punt (he also partially blocked another punt and downed a punt at the ASU 4-yard line) against Arizona State to earn Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Week honors, a game-high 10 tackles against Arizona and a team-best 10 tackles with a deflection at Oregon State. He had a tackle against Notre Dame before spraining his shoulder early in the game (and sidelining him for the season finale at UCLA).

2009: McDonald saw limited action as a backup strong safety and played on special teams as a first-year freshman in 2009. Overall in 2009 while appearing in all 13 games, he had 7 tackles. He had 3 tackles against San Jose State and then 1 tackle each against Washington State, California, Notre Dame and Arizona State.

HIGH SCHOOL: His 2008 honors included Super Prep All-American, Prep Star All-American, Scout.com All-American first team, ESPN 150, Super Prep Elite 50, Prep Star Dream Team, Sporting News Top 100, Super Prep All-Farwest, Prep Star All-West, Long Beach Press-Telegram Best in the West first team, Orange County Register Fab 15 first team, Tacoma News Tribune Western 100, Cal-Hi Sports All-State first team, Golden State Preps All-Southern California first team, All-CIF Central Section, Fresno Bee All-Star and All-County/Metro Athletic Conference Defensive MVP as a senior who played safety, linebacker, defensive end, fullback, tight end and wide receiver at Edison High in Fresno (Calif.). He had 87 tackles and 3 interceptions in 2008.

As a junior in 2007, he made Rivals.com Junior All-American second team, Cal-Hi Sports All-State Underclass first team, All-CIF Central Section and Fresno Bee All-Star. His father, Tim, was the head coach at Edison.

PERSONAL: He's a communication major at USC. His father, Tim, was a 2-time (1985-86) All-American and 4-year (1983-86) letterman safety at USC, where he was named the team MVP his final 2 seasons, was Troy's 1986 captain and helped the Trojans to a victory in the 1985 Rose Bowl, and then played 13 years in the NFL as an All-Pro/Pro Bowler with the St. Louis/Phoenix Cardinals (1987-92) and San Francisco 49ers (1993-99), including on the 49ers' 1994 team that won the Super Bowl. His brother, Tevin, is a redshirt freshman cornerback at UCLA. His initials stand for Tim Jr.

GAME-BY-GAME WITH T.J. McDONALD

2010

2009