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Pac-12 Network, DirecTV Appear Close, and More USC Football News

By Hank Shaw

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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…When the 2015 USC football season opens next Saturday against Arkansas State, DirecTV viewers might just be able to tune into the Pac-12 Network to watch it.

After three years of finger-pointing, subtweets and general stubbornness between both the Pac-12 Network and DirecTV, reports have surfaced this week that the little-watched channel is being tested on DTV with a potential September 3rd launch date.

Fantastic. That’s great news. Where there’s smoke there’s fire, so the channel testing is a positive sign if you’re hoping to DVR next week’s 8 p.m. kickoff.

But if there’s one thing that the last three years have done, it’s create an environment of pessimism around the Pac-12 Network.

So while things look to be progressing further along than ever before after AT&T acquired DirecTV last month, there still needs to be some action to satisfy eager viewers.

Since the acquisition, the conference has only reiterated multiple times that they are optimistic a deal will get done. That very well could be the case given the feed testing, but it’s hard not to ignore that those words have been mentioned before.

Going into every season, the scene seems to be similar. There’s vague talking. There’s conference optimism. Then the season starts with DirecTV subscribers driving to their local Shakey’s to catch Colorado and Sacramento State.

Hopefully the AT&T momentum and testing is a sure-fire sign the deal is really happening this time.

If for nothing else but to avoid the tired, bitter tweets from those unwilling to switch to providers and wanting to make sure you know about it.

And Ten USC Football News Links…

  1. Reign of Troy: For a lot of schools in Southern California, today marks the start of the high school football season. We at RoT ranked the top 10 games featuring USC recruits, including a game tonight that will see three Trojan commits on the field.
  2. OC Register: On Thursday’s R&R video, Michael Lev and Adam Maya discussed USC’s situation at safety, where the Trojans could start any combination featuring six different players.
  3. USCFootball.com: The Trojans entered the Coliseum for this first time during the fall on Thursday. Dan Weber breaks down how important the trip across the stress was for the young players.
  4. Bleacher Report: The guys over B/R went through the schedule of every Top 25 school, deciding which game was the toughest for every ranked team. While USC’s toughest game is no surprise, the Trojans made the list twice as an opponent.
  5. We Are SC: It’s almost that time for the release of USC’s game notes, so Garry Paskwietz has put together his projected depth chart for next week’s season opener vs. Arkansas State.
  6. The Ripsit Blog: USC’s video crew highlighted a pretty cool film session with Trojan great Shaun Cody and current starting nose tackle Antwaun Woods.
  7. OC Register: #DrunkGate continues, with Steve Sarkisian responding to a story in the Seattle Times that featured large bar tabs paid by Sark, and then reimbursed by Washington’s athletic department. Sark said the receipts stemmed from a retreat for coaches and their families.
  8. LA Times: Much has been made of the treatment that Sarkisian will be seeking. Gary Klein writes about how Sark says he should be able to manage the time, despite being a tireless football coach.
  9. Daily Trojan: Speaking of #DrunkGate, Darian Nourian says it’s time to get off of Sark’s back. “Now that this fiasco is almost last week’s news, though, I think that it’s time for everyone to put Sarkisian’s actions on the back burner,” says Nourian.
  10. LA Times: USC grad Allyson Felix broke a world record at the Track & Field World Championships.

Stat of the Day:

With Lamar Dawson hurt, true freshman Cameron Smith looks to be in good position to start next week’s Arkansas State game at middle linebacker. The last true freshman linebacker to start a game at USC? Lamar Dawson.

Tweet of the Day:

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