**TrojanSports.com is in San Antonio, Texas, all week, covering the All-American Bowl. Among the top prospects competing in the high school football showcase are several USC signees, commits and key targets.**

SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- As he took a quick break from the responsibilities and demands on Day 1 of All-American Bowl week, key USC DB target Noa Pola-Gates discussed recently trimming his list of finalists to three and his mindset at this point.

The Trojans, still very much needing to add potential impact players in the secondary, made that final cut for Pola-Gates (Williams Field HS/Gilbert, Ariz.) along with Nebraska and Arizona State.

Pola-Gates was asked if a couple months ago he would have been surprised to know that USC would ultimately end up in that mix.

"Yeah," he said, smiling and considering the question. "Yeah."