USC Football Links: Sark Era Off to Good Start

USC heads to Stanford for a showdown with its nerdy rival from the Bay Area, but health is becoming a concern after the Cody Kessler had a toe procedure on Tuesday and a pair of linemen, including preseason All-American Leonard Williams, didn't finish Tuesday's practice.

We've been keeping you up to date on all the USC-related news. Above are some photos from Tuesday's morning practice and here are the top articles from us in the last couple days:

• Nelson Agholor Knows He Has Work To Do
• USC/UCLA Rivalry Sparks SoCal BMW Crosstown Cup
• Max Browne Has Become a Microcosm of USC's Necessity For Depth
• Defense Ready for Smashmouth Football Against Stanford
• Breaking Down The Stanford Cardinal
• Cody Kessler Named Pac-12 Player of the Week

Around the web, USC has obviously been a hot topic as well after Steve Sarkisian's successful debut. Here's the best USC football stories about the current, former and future Trojans:

USC vs. Fresno State Musings

• The Fifth Quarter: Week 1 Rewind | CollegeFootballTalk

  It was an impressive performance all-around, especially when viewed through the prism of the storm clouds hanging over the program’s head.

• Forde-Yard Dash: Where lies are over the top and snap judgments are passed - Yahoo Sports

  Given the surreal week leading up to the opener, spiked with tall tales and accusations of racism, beating down a quality mid-major was a splendid debut.

• Wisconsin Badgers Melvin Gordon, the Florida State Seminoles and USC Trojans are in the 3-point stance - ESPN

  Oh, woe is Steve Sarkisian. One player lied to him. Another called him a racist. He can't coach. He just got hired because he used to work for Pete Carroll. And so forth and so on.

• Inside the Pocket: No need to overreact to results of Week 1 - NFL.com

  USC had the ball for 38:54 against Fresno State and ran a Pac-12 record 105 plays. Alabama had the ball for 37:47 and ran just 82. Little different pace with Lane Kiffin in Tuscaloosa. The Trojans also racked up more offense than any Kiffin-coached team put up in Los Angeles.

• Big Picture, Week 1: How Texas A&M improved after losing Manziel | FOX Sports

  STAT OF THE WEEK, TAKE 1 Last year, the Trojans had nine games where they ran 65 plays or fewer for the entire game, and five times they didn't run as many plays for four quarters as they did in the first half alone against Fresno State en route to 427 yards of O in the half and 701 yards for the game.

• A Case of the Mondays: A look back at Week 1 love, hot takes and memorable moments

  Not going to lie, having to write a week’s worth of stories about USC that had nothing to do with the football field was a little draining, so I loved to see the Trojans go out and play like none of it happened.

• After a choppy week, smooth sailing for USC, Steve Sarkisian

  On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being something similar to Lane Kiffin and 10 being a freaking genius, it's tempting to give Sarkisian an 11. Except that it was really more like a 12.

• Smith dazzles in No. 9 | FOX Sports
  JuJu Smith had four catches for 123 yards in his USC debut last Saturday.

• USC true freshmen dazzle in debut

  "Treat it just like practice. In front of 93,000 people."

• Freshmen play like veterans in USC romp, Kevon Seymour & Su'a Cravens on Josh Shaw, Max Browne makes his debut & quick hits from Michael Lev.

2014 USC Season

• David Lombardi breaks down Stanford's win over UC Davis and matchup with USC. Ton of interesting nuggets here.

• Across town, the Bruins didn't get off to a hot start. NFL.com's Daniel Jeremiah scouted several of college football's top prospects on Saturday and didn't come away very impressed with some of the best quarterback prospects in the country, including UCLA's Brett Hundley.

• Heisman Pundit put out his weekly Heisman Watch and there's a Trojan still on the list as Buck Allen finishes the opening weekend as one of the top 10.

• SFGate talks about the running backs, including Buck Allen, at center stage the first weekend and gives Steve Sarkisian the award for Best Debut in the Pac-12.

• ESPN's Pac-12 Blog ranks the conference quarterbacks after Week 1 and Cody Kessler makes the five-man list.

• Cody Kessler leads USC to a therapeutic win after a turbulent week.

• Tom Weir asks the question, "Is USC Finally Ready to Take Back the Pac-12?"

• NFL.com's Bryan Fischer answers how good USC really is in his Tuesday Tweetbag:

• Pac-12 teams play 75 freshmen in Week 1, 11 were USC frosh -- the most in the conference.

• And three of the 11 USC freshmen that played on Saturday made this list of the top ten true freshman performances of the weekend.

• Early optimism abounds at USC | Daily Trojan

  "Is it gonna be a doctor? I don’t know; it’s a baby." The analogy rings true for USC.

• Ted Miller tries to predict where the Pac-12 teams will land during bowl season. USC stays put.

• Pac-12 Power Rankings from Arizona Desert Swarm
  USC moves up to third while UCLA falls to fourth.

• Pac-12 Power Rankings from ESPN's Pac-12 Blog

• Pac-12 Power Rankings from the OC Register

Former Trojans

• Max Wittek: The graduate transfer who wasn't - Texas - Scout

  Sources close to the situation said Wittek was actually kicked out of school at USC during the spring semester for violating the school's student conduct code.

• Shareece Wright finds 'right time' | UTSanDiego.com
  The Chargers cornerback settles into role as starter, looks ahead to next step...and gets engaged.

• New York Giants unofficial depth chart

  The first-team linebackers are McClain in the middle and rookie Devon Kennard and Jacquian Williams on the outside."

• Former USC offensive lineman Kevin Graf was added to the Eagles' practice squad.

• Silas Redd: 'The Grind Never Stops Now That I Made It'
  After reaching his dream of being on an NFL roster, rookie running back Silas Redd is looking forward to contributing to the team in any way possible.

• Silas Redd's hard work pays off with opportunity of a lifetime | Comcast SportsNet Washington

  "It was a little surreal. I worked really hard for it, coming in here as the sixth running back and not really having a chance. It’s a testament to my hard work and how I was brought up. I couldn’t be happier."

• Gruden: Silas Redd was more well-rounded than Seastrunk or Thompson