College Athletics

USC won its only Bowl Championship Series title four years ago, but Coach Pete Carroll still ranks No. 1 in at least one category. A new report released today says Carroll was the highest-paid private university employee in the United States during the 2006-07 fiscal year. Carroll earned $4.4 million in total compensation, four times as much as USC President Steven B. Sample, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Weeks have dragged into months, and months into years, since USC was rocked by allegations that star football player Reggie Bush broke rules by accepting cash, a car and free housing from two businessmen who hoped to profit from him after he turned professional. Now, the still-unresolved case has become a clinic in the limits to self-policing in college sports.

USC's off-week practices provided the showcase, as planned, for younger players hoping to impress coaches. But junior quarterback Mitch Mustain also took advantage of the opportunity and might have positioned himself to become Matt Barkley's backup for the seventh-ranked Trojans' Oct. 17 game at Notre Dame. On Friday, after Mustain completed 10 of 12 passes and threw for two touchdowns during an early morning workout that was conducted without pads, Coach Pete Carroll declined to say whether the former Arkansas starter had overtaken sophomore Aaron Corp as the Trojans' No. 2 quarterback.

USC quarterback Matt Barkley says he is ready to play, pain or no pain. Barkley, who started the first two games and then sat out the loss at Washington because of a bone bruise in his right shoulder, said Tuesday that he was planning to start Saturday night against Washington State at the Coliseum. But Coach Pete Carroll cautioned that he would monitor the freshman's progress before any choice was made between Barkley and Aaron Corp . "It could happen if everything works right," Carroll said of Barkley's starting.

The story was dead. The story came alive. After USC's final practice before flying to Ohio State on Thursday, Pete Carroll suddenly announced that his plane-catching players didn't have time to talk to the media. I had come to talk to Stafon Johnson. He jogged away quietly. It was perfect. For four years, attention has sought him, controversy has nagged him, bitterness has chased him. He has jogged away quietly. In the last two seasons here, among USC's running backs, he has been the most consistent, and consistently ignored.

USC quarterback Mitch Mustain apparently just needed a few kicks to move up the depth chart. Mustain, now the Trojans' No. 2 quarterback behind Matt Barkley , said Tuesday that his recent stint working as a punter helped him focus and perform better at his primary position. "Actually having something to do that was at least halfway constructive helped a lot," he said. Mustain is clearly buoyed by his elevated status, which was evident last week when he took most of the second-team snaps during the Trojans' off week.

Former USC receiver Vidal Hazelton said Sunday that he was transferring to Cincinnati and would play for the Bearcats in 2010. Hazelton said he also considered Syracuse and Missouri, but chose Cincinnati because more credits were accepted toward his degree and there was an opportunity to play in a spread offense. "They throw the ball a whole lot," said Hazelton, a sociology major. Last season, Cincinnati ranked 26th nationally in passing offense. USC was 22nd.

USC's coaching carousel continued to spin Monday as Pete Carroll hired one quarterbacks coach to replace another who had not yet arrived on campus. Carroll announced that Denver Broncos assistant Jeremy Bates would be the Trojans' assistant head coach for offense. He also will call plays. Bates, 32, replaces Carl Smith, who was named to the position on Jan. 6 but had yet to start work. Smith, USC's quarterbacks coach in 2004, interviewed with the Cleveland Browns last week.

Long after practice ended Wednesday, USC safety Taylor Mays continued to work. That's not unusual: The All-American routinely stays late to practice catching balls that are shot toward him from a machine. But Mays on Wednesday changed his routine, retiring to a far corner of the facility where he repeatedly charged into a tackling sled, driving it across the turf with his arms wrapped around the pads. Mays made a team-high 10 tackles in the Trojans' victory at California last Saturday.

It could be aspirins all around for UCLA this week. Defensive coordinator Chuck Bullough might need some help figuring out a scheme to stop Stanford's bull-like running back Toby Gerhart . And defensive tackle Brian Price already knows a few tablets can come in handy at game time. "I remember hitting him last year and it gave me a headache," Price said. "He is the toughest runner I've ever come across." Price isn't alone in those thoughts. Gerhart enters this week's game against the Bruins as the third-leading rusher in the nation, averaging 129 yards a game.