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Jake Olson Likely Joining Trojans Soon and More USC Football News

By Alicia de Artola

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Can’t get enough USC football news? We’ve got your morning dose of all the best content from around the web concerning the men of Troy.

1st & 10:

First Take… If you were wondering what the deal with Jake Olson — the blind USC fan that is trying to get NCAA clearance to walk on to the Trojans football team — is, Teddy Mitrosilis of Fox Sports has an update.

"According to a source, Jake Olson’s situation is progressing in conjunction with the timetable for walk-ons at USC and he’s expected to be part of the program in the fall. The NCAA-related issues described in the original post below were hurdles in April while Jake was still in high school, but the specifics have changed now that he’s enrolled at USC. Walk-ons don’t typically join the Trojans until after the first game, so Jake may have to wait until after the Arkansas State game on Sept. 5 before becoming an official member of the team. Either way, it appears Jake will be a Trojan."

That sounds like good news for Olson and USC.

Though there has been no official word that Olson has indeed been cleared to join the team as a walk-on without his non-athletic scholarship counting against USC’s football scholarship numbers, it would seem that any obstructions have been removed.

If that is the case then — prepare yourself for a shocking statement — good on the NCAA. That is the kind of common sense that has been lacking in the organization too often.

The truth is, Olson’s situation is unique. The NCAA needed to do their due diligence to make sure that any exception given to Olson could not be exploited by teams looking to skirt scholarship limitations with non-athletic grants.

Thankfully, it would seem they have done the right thing. At least, we hope.

And Ten USC Football Links…

  1. LA Times: Chris Dufresne praises Cody Kessler for coming through in the clutch during and after the weekend’s Steve Sarkisian drama. The quarterback finished out Salute To Troy and then put his full support behind the head coach on Tuesday.
  2. Daily News: Tre Madden is focused on excelling on the field, not the potential for another injury-plagued season.
  3. ESPN: Garry Paskwietz offers a projected depth chart as we near Arkansas State game week. Taylor McNamara takes the top spot at tight end and Chris Hawkins wins out over Leon McQuay at safety, while Toa Lobendahn is the sixth man on the line.
  4. Bleacher Report: Another projected depth chart from Brian Pedersen predicts Justin Davis as the top running back, Connor Spears as the starting tight end and Toa Lobendahn ahead of Chad Wheeler at left tackle.
  5. ESPN: Cody Kessler checks in at No. 3 on David Lombardi’s Pac-12 quarterback rankings, behind Cal’s Jared Goff and Arizona State’s Mike Bercovici.
  6. Bleacher Report: Porter Gustin is one of Ben Kercheval’s 10 freshman who have turned heads in fall camps across the country.
  7. USCFootball.com: Quinton Powell has a goal for this season — to be Special Teams Player of the Year. Beyond that, he’s hoping to put on weight though his metabolism and a concussion to start fall camp is getting in the way.
  8. Reign of Troy: Chad Wheeler has been fully cleared to play after rehab on his knee and a concussion held him out of live action for most of fall camp.
  9. Sports Illustrated: SI’s preseason All-American team features Max Tuerk and Adoree’ Jackson on the first team. Cody Kessler and Su’a Cravens made the second team.
  10. Reign of Troy: The LA Coliseum is going to get upgrades from USC no matter what, but it seems that Los Angeles’ Olympic bid could play a role in just how much is invested in the iconic stadium. With a successful bid, there could be up to $800 million in renovations beginning in 2017.

Stat of the Day:

USC opens this season playing a pair of Sun Belt teams: Arkansas State and Idaho. While they’ve played Idaho eight times before and are 8-0 against current Sun Belt teams all-time, the Trojans first game against a team competing in the Sun Belt at the time of the game will be next week against Arkansas State. Idaho was in the WAC when USC hosted them in 2007.

Tweets of the Day:

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