USC FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK: TROJANS' PHILOSOPHY: SPREAD OUT.

Byline: Scott Wolf

Staff Writer

With the spread-option offense growing in popularity, a natural question is whether USC would consider running it.

But offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian said injuries to quarterbacks running the spread are one reason USC would probably never use it.

"The quarterback takes a pounding," Sarkisian said. "It even happened to the Illinois guy (Juice Williams). You lose your quarterback and what do you become? Look at Oregon (without Dennis Dixon) and West Virginia without Pat White?"

Sarkisian said the only current USC quarterback who could probably run it is freshman Aaron Corp.

"Aaron would have to take a pounding," Sarkisian said. "But Aaron could do it because he ran variations of it in high school and is a pretty elusive runner."

Play fast

USC's biggest goal offensively is to learn its game plan well enough to play with a fast tempo against Illinois. That will be a big part of the next two weeks as the Trojans repeat plays during practice.

"By the time of the game, we really want the kids to know what to do," Sarkisian said. "And we want to know plays without hesitation. You experiment quite a bit the first couple weeks and obviously put in some new wrinkles to what we do, but then you want to play without thinking."

As examples, Sarkisian said the offense played well in the past two Rose Bowls, including the loss to Texas in the BCS title game.

"Two years ago against Texas, other than a pick by Matt (Leinart) and a fumble by Reggie (Bush) and a fourth-and-1 quarterback sneak, we had a really good plan for those guys," Sarkisian said.

Booty better

Quarterback John David Booty threw much better Saturday than during Friday's practice, which was his first time throwing since the UCLA game two weeks ago.

Booty's rested, but his broken finger is still not 100 percent, nearly three months after suffering the injury.

No contact

Sarksian reiterated Saturday that he had no contact with Michigan regarding their coaching vacancy.

Injury report

Offensive guard Chilo Rachal injured his knee Friday, but tests revealed no damage. He did not practice Saturday because his knee remains sore.

Linebacker Keith Rivers (sprained ankle) is supposed to return next week. Wide receiver David Ausberry missed practice with back spasms.

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