Matt Barkley has been an absolute stud for the USC Trojans in the 2011 college football season. He led the Trojans to a 10-2 record, including a huge win over the Oregon Ducks in Autzen Stadium. 

Heisman Trophy

We all know how quickly things can go wrong for a college football team.

An injury here, a suspension there, and all of a sudden, the season is circling the drain.

For the 2011 USC Trojans, a litany of bad news has already been delivered and those connected with the program, along with their fans, have had plenty wailing and gnashing of teeth and that's before the the first kickoff of the first game has taken place.

So let's not deal with that negativity here.

Instead, this slide show will focus on the positive for the upcoming season and identify a number of scenarios that, if realized, should make USC and their fans very happy.

Let the naysayers and gloomy Pete's wallow in the pits of dreariness.

We have better things to focus on and to that end, here are 10 dream scenarios that will keep Trojan fans smiling all season long.

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Jeff Evans

Barkley has been one of the most publicised players that started their college football careers last year. He is back for his sophmore campaign and looked pretty damn impressive last night as USCw played Hawaii (yea, I know its only Hawaii, but still). He was 18/23, for 257 yards, and 5 touchdowns. Each pass was for an average of 14.3 yards. I didn't think he had that amazing of a freshman season, but he displayed moments of greatness in the first game of his sophmore campaign. So, do you think Matt Barkley is going to live up to the expectations this year?

Brian Johnson

Entering the 2011 college football season, it was universally known Matt Barkley would face a big decision at the end of this year. As Mark Saxon, blogger for ESPN.com, put it, "we knew he'd be starting at a potential high selection in next April's NFL draft and weighing that against the possibility of the Trojans making a nice run in 2012. But we didn't know it was going to be like this, as the stakes involved in Barkley's decision to stay or go have been dramatically raised over the past month-plus." 

Chris Rutledge

Stafon Johnson, former USC Trojans RB, filed a personal injury lawsuit against USC alleging negligence by former personal trainer, Jamie Yanchar, as the reason for his neck injury in 2009. Yanchar was spotting Johnson as he attempted to bench-press 275 pounds in an USC athletic facility. Johnson claims Yanchar accidentally hit the bench bar causing it to fall on his neck crushing his larynyx and nearly killing him. 

WhosRight CollegeFootball

The victories, and a national championship they produced, are vacated.

The trophies — a copy of Reggie Bush's Heisman statuette and a crystal football for a Bowl Championship Series title — are now ghosts of Heritage Hall.

The Trojans men's basketball program also was punished for violations related to former star player O.J. Mayo, and the school actually paid some of that in cash: a $5,000 fine and the return of $206,200 it received for participation in the 2008 NCAA tournament.

No part of what USC's football program has lost can be itemized in such a straightforward way, making any attempt to tally Bush's financial impact a daunting task. Unlike public universities with budgets and expenditures open to review, USC, as a private school, is not required to make its budgets and expenses available.

"I can't quantify monetary damages," Athletic Director Pat Haden said.

This much is clear: The football price tag already runs well into the tens of millions in lost bowl appearances, sagging attendance, attorney fees and other direct and ancillary costs.

From the 2002 through 2008 seasons, USC played in seven consecutive Bowl Championship Series bowl games, appearances that annually infused millions into the school's athletic coffers. In 2009, with the NCAA's investigation looming over the program, the Trojans fell to a lesser bowl. And for last season and this next one, a two-year bowl ban that was part of the penalties eliminates that postseason revenue jolt. The school is also hustling to shore up recent drops in attendance, season-ticket subscriptions and support-group memberships.

Those are only some of the more obvious tangible losses.

Andrew Zimbalist, a Smith College sports economist, said USC would suffer in ways less obvious than the direct economic hit to its football revenue.

Zimbalist cited recruiting as one example. David Carter, executive director of the USC Sports Business Institute, went even further, saying the intangible fallout from the Bush investigation and penalties is greater than the financial blow.

"The athletic brand of a school can have far-reaching impact beyond the money the athletic program brings in," he said.

USC reacted accordingly. New President Max Nikias acted quickly after sanctions were announced in June 2010, removing Mike Garrett as athletic director and replacing him with Haden, a lawyer and highly respected former USC quarterback. Nikias also hired a vice president of athletic compliance and nearly tripled the size of that staff.

"It's about protecting the university brand," Carter said. "If the brand atrophies, that is a much bigger problem than if the athletic department has a bad year or two."

Not that USC and its athletic department are hurting financially.

Since the announcement of sanctions a year ago, USC has started construction on the John McKay Center, a $70-million, 110,000-square-foot building that will house football offices, training and rehabilitation facilities for all athletes and also academic services.

It also struck a new licensing agreement with Silver Star Merchandising, a Texas apparel manufacturer and distributor with ties to Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, and accepted an unspecified sum to endow the athletic director's position that the school reported was the largest endowment gift ever received by the USC athletic department.

And the Trojans signed off on a new Pacific 12 Conference television deal estimated to be worth $3 billion over 12 years, an average of $21 million a year for each school.

In addition, the university announced it had received gifts from donors of $200 million in March, $110 million in April and $150 million in June — none related to athletics.

Jeff Evans

Remember when Southern Cal beat OU, 55-19, in the 2004 national championship game? It's now been scratched from the record. The NCAA announced today it has vacated USC's 2004 title because former running back Reggie Bush — who already had his Heisman Trophy stripped from him — was ruled ineligible for receiving improper benefits. But Sooner fans shouldn't get overly excited; the NCAA also announced there would be no replacement champion.

Jeff Evans

Kennedy Pola returned to USC — where he previously played and coached — under somewhat controversial circumstances last year.

That episode and a full season behind him, Pola (Mater Dei High) has settled into the same Heritage Hall corner office he occupied in his first go-round at USC, from 2000-03.

Recruiting wasn't part of the job description in the NFL, where he coached in Cleveland (2004), Jacksonville ('05-09) and Tennessee ('10). That transition is where our conversation began.

Q: You hadn't been at Tennessee very long when Lane Kiffin came calling. Why come back?

A: It's USC. There's no other university (like it). If you'd been here before — and I've been blessed to be here as a student-athlete and been here working for two bosses, been through good and bad — and knowing Lane, knew of the sanctions, there was an opportunity to help our university in some way. If they asked me to stack cups or something (I would have done it) just to help. I was here as a player when we had a two-year ban. It's an adjustment for the student-athletes, the fan base and the coaching staff.

Q: You began your coaching career as a volunteer assistant at Crespi High (of Encino). What do you remember most about that experience?

A: Winning a championship. We won the CIF-Southern Section with Coach Bill Redell. It's funny, but it's kind of reality sometimes: I had the best player in Russell White. He was the CIF Player of the Year, and he was only a sophomore. I realized then that I don't have to be a really good coach — I just have to have really good players.

Q: How old were you when you first started coaching?

A: Twenty-two, 23 years old. I had just finished at USC. Had a cup of coffee in the NFL. Had the eighth knee surgery and realized the NFL's not for me. That's another personal challenge that's helped me become a better teacher to coach a lot of these young men.

Q: What's the distribution of the surgeries?

A: Four on each. Never missed a game, though. I don't know if it was a smart decision.

Q: Why did coaching appeal to you?

A: You're going deep. You're going back to the young man who move from Samoa, who, at 12 years old, didn't know how to speak English. Coaches were like your father figure. That's just the truth. The guardian I lived with who raised me through high school was my basketball coach. He became more than a basketball coach. He became like my father. From Wayne Cochran to Bruce Rollinson to Ted Tollner to John Robinson ... every coach I've come in contact with has been an influence on what I've done.

When I had the opportunity, when Coach Bill Redell asked me to come and help, it helped me to grieve too. ... You're a high school All-American, all that stuff, hyped up, and your dream is to play in the NFL, make some money and take care of your family. But it didn't happen. It helped me with my grieving.

Q: You graduated with a degree in history. You also were born on the day that John F. Kennedy was assassinated and were named after him. Is he an important historical figure to you? Or is there someone else you admire?

A: No, it would have to be him because everybody relates to that date. It's amazing. I wish I was a writer because I would record every conversation I've had over the years, the stories. That generation, they can recall to the second, to the minute, everything around them when it happened, where they were, all over the world: "I remember my mom crying, I remember my teacher, everybody just went silent, the principal over the loud speaker."

Q: You seem to have a special relationship with fullbacks because you were one yourself. What does it take to be a great fullback?

A: First of all, you're selfless. It's all in the attitude. Team player. You have to love collisions. I've always said, fullbacks have the best hands on the team. Here at USC, from Malaefou MacKenzie to David Kirtman to Stanley Havili, those guys can catch the football. I've always teased the other guys. I think the reason why, when I first started here at USC, Coach (John) Robinson had that philosophy that before you became a tailback you were playing fullback. That's the movement guy. Once you learn the fullback's blocking point, entry point, what they're doing, I think the tailback sees the game a lot better.

Q: The running backs' production was pretty good last year; Allen Bradford and Marc Tyler combined for about 1,700 yards. But it seemed like Lane Kiffin was seldom satisfied with the running game. What's your take on it?

A: You can always improve. I don't think it's the young men's fault. You've got to understand, they have a new coach. Marc and Allen and Stanley had been with Coach Mac (Todd McNair) for four years. All of a sudden you've got a different voice, a different way of installing, a different way they see things. I think it took awhile for us. Then the rhythm of the play-caller. I think it's going to be a lot better this year.

Q: Because there's a greater comfort level?

A: There's more continuity. I look back at our production here in our first run with Pete (Carroll). We were 6-6. The next year, Sultan (McCullough) had a 100-yard game, (Justin) Fargas against Oregon broke out, and things started jelling. Then the next year was even better.

Q: A few days after spring ball ended, Lane Kiffin released a depth chart. Four guys were listed as co-starters at running back. How much influence do you have on that, and how do you size up the race?

A: It's always the head coach's decision. But he's going to weigh it on everybody, what's your opinion on it. You never say it's my decision. This is Coach Kiffin's team. There's no question about it.

You have to be available as a running back. If you're not taking care of your schoolwork, the way you behave, things like that, (it's a problem). Professional guys, they're pros; I never had that issue. "This is business. I'm going to show up. I'm going to do the right thing." At least the ones I've been around.

We haven't (found) a guy who's going to step up and do everything. You look at Stanford and their identity, they rotated backs as well (last season). It's kind of that way right now. The back that's going to stand out is going to be a back that Coach is going to feel comfortable in (his) doing everything: protecting the quarterback, running the routes, running hard.

Q: What can you tell me about the two guys coming in in the fall, Amir Carlisle and Buck Allen?

A: Amir ... has a good traffic burst. He can go from first to fourth pretty quick. He's not the biggest, but very good football instincts. Real good ball-catching skills. We'll figure out when he gets here and the pads come on how he's going to attack. I'm sure he'll be fine. He's been brought up around football a lot of his life; his dad is a trainer in the NFL and college. He knows what it takes.

The other young man is a big kid. We lose Allen (Bradford), C.J. (Gable) and Stanley (Havili) — there go three big backs. The only one we have left is Marc (Tyler). He comes in, and he's our second big back. He's got a good feel. He can catch the ball. I've always told him it's kind of nice to have an "Allen" in the backfield at USC. He didn't get it.

Q: He didn't get it? He didn't know who Marcus Allen was?

A: He didn't get it at first. It's been awhile.

Contact the writer: mlev@ocregister.com

Jeff Evans

Lane Kiffin is in his second season as head coach of the USC Trojans, and the Trojans are currently 8-2 with two games left. Kiffin was hired after Coach Pete Carroll bolted for the National Football League and was 8-5 in his first year.

Brian Johnson

USC is having to give up 30 scholarships, 10 in each of the next 3 years, is banned from bowls for 2 seasons, and is on probation for 4 years. I believe the loss of scholarships and 2 year bowl ban is going to hurt the USC Trojans but not set the program back 10 years. What do you think? Will USC survive probation?

Brian Johnson