Culver City Observer -

The USC football team has enough talent in 2017 to stay at the top of the Pac-12 and national rankings. They have one of the best quarterbacks in the nation in Sam Darnold. They always have outstanding running backs led by Roland Jones ll and their defense is fast and strong. They will put those talents on display Saturday when they open their season against Western Michigan at 2:15 p.m. at the Coliseum. The No. 4 ranked Trojans should score a lot of points against Western Michigan but they might want to save some of those points for the following Saturday when they play Stanford at the Coliseum at 5:30 p.m. On offense Darnold will be throwing the ball to Deontay Burnett who caught 13 passes and scored three touchdowns in the Rose Bowl game in January. The other receivers are Steven Mitchell Jr., Jalen Greene and Michael Pittman Jr. Several incoming freshmen have played well during fall practices so the Trojans look solid at the receiver position. Helping out Jones in the backfield will be Aca’ Cedric Ware, Dominic Davis, James Toland lV and freshmen Stephen Carr and Randal Grimes. The starting tight end will be Daniel Imatorbhebhe. Also playing tight end will be Tyler Petite, Cary Angeline along with freshman Josh Falo. The offensive line will be anchored by Viane Talamaivao, Nico Falah and Toa Lobendahn. On defense the Trojans are loaded. They will be led by linebackers Cameron Smith and Porter Gustin and Uchenna Nwosu. Leading the way on the defensive line will be Rasheem Greene, Josh Fatu, Malik Dorton and Kenny Bigelow. In the defensive backfield USC will rely on the play of Iman Marshall, Marvell Tell lll and Chris Hawkins.