University Of Southern California

In a long-awaited response to allegations that former basketball star O.J. Mayo received improper cash and gifts while in school, USC will penalize its team by forfeiting victories and money, forgoing postseason play and curtailing recruiting. "When we've done something wrong, we have an obligation to do something about it and that is exactly what we are doing here," Athletic Director Mike Garrett said in a statement on Sunday. The action comes as USCalso faces allegations that two prominent football players -- current tailback Joe McKnight and former tailback Reggie Bush -- accepted improper benefits.

As USC attracts a substantially higher number of students from out of the state and nation, more students are moving into areas around the campus that used to be considered too distant or too unsafe, and developers are eagerly courting renters willing to pay for the convenience of skateboarding to chemistry class.

Rabbinical student Jessica Koss paused in front of the mosque and carefully wrapped a turquoise and green scarf around her head so that all her hair was covered. She tied the loose ends into a bun at the back of her neck before entering the Masjid Omar Ibn Al Khattab for the Friday prayer service. With her were two other student members of the Hillel Jewish Center taking part in daylong "getting to know the other" events between Muslim and Jewish student groups at USC.

These aren't your big brother's USC Trojans. Then again, maybe they are. If history is a guide, the school's back-to-the-future coaching staff will lean on some familiar strategies, with a few twists here and there. A peek at what people will see next season: Offense No gimmicky schemes here. No wildcat. No spread offense. The Trojans should look -- or at least try to look -- a lot like they did in the Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart years. Lane Kiffin runs a pro-style offense.

With national signing day for high school recruits less than 12 hours away, USC Coach Lane Kiffin on Tuesday hastily sat for his media guide portrait in the lobby of Heritage Hall. Total time with photographer: Less than 30 seconds. "Every place I'm at for a minute may be a missed call," Kiffin said as he hustled upstairs to his office. "It's closing time." Six seasons as a USC assistant and one as head coach at Tennessee have made Kiffin cognizant of the importance of finishing recruiting seasons strong.

As national signing day looms for college football recruits, Dietrich Riley teeters between choosing USC or UCLA. The safety and running back from La Cañada St. Francis High has not ruled out Louisiana State or Notre Dame, but when he reveals his decision on Wednesday, he is expected to choose either the Trojans or the Bruins. "My mind is switching every night," he said. Riley's struggle offers a window into the workings of the recruiting battle between a Trojans staff installed in the midst of one of the most tumultuous times in USC football history and a UCLA staff that senses opportunity.

Tennessee Athletic Director Mike Hamilton said Tuesday the university investigated rumors that have recently appeared on the Internet that Lane Kiffin had been drinking and was with female students at the time of a car accident last summer, but "we were never able to substantiate any of that." Hamilton said Kiffin, who resigned as Tennessee's football coach last week to take the same position at USC, acknowledged being involved in the accident after it occurred in August and said he had fallen asleep at the wheel.

Introductions won't be necessary the next time Lane Kiffin and Jesse Scroggins see one another. Kiffin wooed the standout Lakewood High quarterback last spring during a recruiting visit to Tennessee paid for by the player's family. "I was in their office for 2 1/2 days because Jesse was his No. 1 target at the time," the player's father, Jesse Sr., said Tuesday night. Scroggins eventually committed to USC but remained fond of Kiffin. So when Scroggins learned that Kiffin had been hired to succeed Pete Carroll as coach of the Trojans, he couldn't believe how things had turned out. "It kind of worked out for me all the way around," Scroggins said.

USC football player Winston Justice pleaded no contest Monday to one misdemeanor count of exhibition of a replica firearm and was sentenced to 60 days of electronic monitoring and three years' probation. "I'm happy it's over.... Now it's time to move on," said Justice, who plans to return to USC in the spring of 2005. Justice, 19, an offensive lineman, was arrested March 3 on suspicion of felony assault with a deadly weapon in connection with an incident that occurred near campus Feb. 24.

USC hired Lane Kiffin to replace Pete Carroll on a jail-break Tuesday and two of the happiest guys on earth, not counting Kiffin, are Trojans Athletic Director Mike Garrett and Southeastern Conference Commissioner Mike Slive. Garrett pulled a Usain Bolt fast one. Pardon us for not considering that a program on the brink of probation would hire a guy who spent his one and lonely 7-6 year at Tennessee getting his hand slapped by the SEC schoolmarm for his brazen disregard for the minor details of a governing body's operating manual.

A month ago, USC's Nikola Vucevic blew the game against Stanford. This came on a failed tip-in at the buzzer. He used one hand on that attempt, not two. So Trojans Coach Kevin O'Neill asked ever-so politely, "If you get a tip-in at the end, go up with two hands, please." Vucevic paid heed and proved it Saturday, using both his sizable mitts on a tip-in with 20.6 seconds left that gave the Trojans a lead and the eventual win over Stanford, 54-49, at the Galen Center. "He always tells me not to do stuff with one hand," said Vucevic, who had a team-high 18 points.

Watch Marcus Johnson, No. 0 in USC's lineup, the one with the ear-to-ear smile. And when the Trojans are fastbreaking, watch the rim: He'll meet your eyes there, usually with a highlight slam. But you won't be alone. These days, the NBA is watching too. "I hear from NBA guys all the time, scouts and GMs," USC Coach Kevin O'Neill said recently. "But people are talking more about Marcus now than they ever have." Specifically, they're talking defense, which the 6-foot-6 Johnson calls "his base" thanks to defense-minded coaches from high school through college.

As USC Coach Lane Kiffin and his staff blazed the recruiting trail the last couple of weeks, players and parents questioned them about the specter of possible NCAA sanctions against the Trojans football program. "Obviously, it was something that came up at times," Kiffin said. According to several players, coaches told them that they expected the program to be fine, that USC might forfeit some games from previous seasons or, perhaps, lose a few scholarships if sanctions were imposed.

USC and California gave the season-high crowd of 7,412 at the Galen Center a show Thursday, with the Trojans beating the Golden Bears, 66-63, in a nail-biter highlighted by a 25-0 USC run and dominated by one player: Jerome Randle. The California guard scored a game-high 29 points, but missed a three-pointer from the corner at the buzzer as a hushed crowd watched on. "If he had made that, we would have been on 'SportsCenter,' " USC Coach Kevin O'Neill said after the game, laughing.

The halfway point of USC's postseason-denied conference basketball season is here -- and some Trojans were happy to apply something of a midterm grade to the team, which is 12-9 overall and 4-5 in Pacific 10 Conference play. Senior guard Dwight Lewis wasn't lenient: C-minus. "I don't think we've put too many whole games together," he said. Fellow senior Mike Gerrity was a tad more generous: B-minus. "I think we've had some good spurts along the way," he said. Coach Kevin O'Neill gave his team an "A" for effort, the only category he cares about.

Tanner Nua had 17 kills and Theo Edwards added 16 as the Cal State Northridge men's volleyball team validated its No. 1 national ranking with a 30-26, 30-28, 9-30, 26-30, 15-10 victory over No. 2 USC in front of a capacity crowd Wednesday night at the Matadome. Northridge took sole possession of first place in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. It was the Matadors' 15th consecutive victory over USC dating to March 2004. Northridge took a 3-0 lead in the decisive game and never relinquished it. Nua served two straight aces to end the match.

The UCLA-USC football rivalry is definitely alive and flourishing -- in recruiting, at least. Each school emerged from Wednesday, the first day high school football seniors could sign letters of intent, with prospect classes ranked in the national top 10. "We're very close [to USC], and we'll go past them very soon," UCLA Coach Rick Neuheisel predicted. The departure of USC Coach Pete Carroll to the NFL seemed to energize Neuheisel, who showed a closer mentality. Four top defensive recruits all announced in the middle of the day that they had signed with UCLA -- defensive backs Dietrich Riley of La Cañada St. Francis and Anthony Jefferson of Los Angeles Cathedral, linebacker Josh Shirley of Fontana Kaiser and defensive end Owamagbe Odighizuwa from Portland, Ore. New USC Coach Lane Kiffin ended the day by landing the biggest and best offensive line prospect in the nation, 6-foot-8, 330-pound tackle Seantrel Henderson from St. Paul, Minn.

With national signing day for high school recruits less than 12 hours away, USC Coach Lane Kiffin on Tuesday hastily sat for his media guide portrait in the lobby of Heritage Hall. Total time with photographer: Less than 30 seconds. "Every place I'm at for a minute may be a missed call," Kiffin said as he hustled upstairs to his office. "It's closing time." Six seasons as a USC assistant and one as head coach at Tennessee have made Kiffin cognizant of the importance of finishing recruiting seasons strong.

As national signing day looms for college football recruits, Dietrich Riley teeters between choosing USC or UCLA. The safety and running back from La Cañada St. Francis High has not ruled out Louisiana State or Notre Dame, but when he reveals his decision on Wednesday, he is expected to choose either the Trojans or the Bruins. "My mind is switching every night," he said. Riley's struggle offers a window into the workings of the recruiting battle between a Trojans staff installed in the midst of one of the most tumultuous times in USC football history and a UCLA staff that senses opportunity.

The coach couldn't believe it. He looked at a reporter and said, "Can you believe it? Can you believe it ?" Then USC's Kevin O'Neill left the bowels of McArthur Court, still shocked -- not that the Trojans lost to Oregon, 67-57, Saturday, but that they lost their chances of winning when a student manager was called for a technical foul late in a tight game. The call came with 4 minutes 35 seconds left and Oregon leading, 49-47. Stan Holt, a third-year manager, was deemed responsible.