Trojans Have Horses at Linebacker

Cushing, Maualuga and Rivers Lead a Special Group for No. 1 USC

Southern California's starting linebackers Brian Cushing, Rey Maualuga and Keith Rivers harbor dreams of becoming the country's most dominant and feared unit this season. But their stiffest competition might not be too far away.

"They have got to be the best players in our linebacker room first," said Ken Norton Jr., USC's linebackers coach, who believes the country's second-best unit could also reside on campus.

USC has such a linebacker surplus, the Trojans might be two deep in all-American-caliber talent.

The Trojans feature a strong Heisman Trophy hopeful at quarterback in John David Booty and return 10 defensive starters, but Coach Pete Carroll has said linebacker is without question the team's strongest position. In need of a nickname, Norton suggested the Fantastic Four, then quickly corrected himself -- the Fantastic Six.

"If they stay clear in what their objectives are each practice, each game, they can be the best group that has ever played in college football," Norton said in a telephone interview.

There has been no shortage of hyperbole this summer regarding USC, which received all but three first-place votes in the Associated Press preseason top 25. The statement by first-year Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh that the Trojans could be the best in the sport's history was met with amusement around college football.

The linebacker-directed hype is considered more legitimate. Norton knows the position well, having played linebacker during a successful 13-year NFL career with the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers. Each USC practice, Norton watches players with speed, size and unique individual characteristics perform at a level few can equal.

At 6 feet 4 and 235 pounds, Cushing, a junior who started at defensive end last season, is a physical strong-side linebacker with impressive instincts and a fierce competitive streak. Maualuga, a 6-3, 250-pound junior, is a compact, explosive middle linebacker who often barrels over linemen like a bowling ball. And Rivers, a 6-3, 235-pound weak-side linebacker, led the team in tackles last season with 85 and is considered the best athlete among the three.

"Our goal is to be dominant," Rivers, a senior, said in a telephone interview. "To leave no doubt within anybody who watches college football that we are a great group."

During last month's Pacific-10 Conference media day, Carroll said: "I'm hoping that this is going to take shape as one of the best linebacking groups we have ever had and will be obvious. There are three big draft picks from those starters right there for the NFL in years to come."

The r?sum?s of the second-stringers also are impressive. Senior Thomas Williams and junior Kaluka Maiava were both high school all-Americans; Maiava's uncle is wrestler-actor Dwayne Johnson, a.k.a. "The Rock." Junior Clay Matthews is a former walk-on whose father is the former USC all-American with the same name who played 18 years in the NFL.

"They could start on any other team in the Pac-10," Norton said.