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Cristian Dixon, the 4-star Rivals250 wide receiver from Mater Dei High School, sort of predicted this recent USC recruiting resurgence in a way.

It was back at the local Under Armour camp in early February, a few days before the Trojans would hire away ace recruiter Donte Williams from Oregon, and Dixon shared that there was a different buzz building around the program and that the talk among the top local prospects was that something big was coming.

"I feel like I was the first recruit that really spoke it into existence kind of, but it's definitely been some big changes since we talked last time," Dixon said Wednesday, reflecting back on that conversation a few months ago. "Most definitely from Anthony [Beavers] -- Tone -- committing to Calen [Bullock], everybody committing, everybody wants to be a hometown super hero.

"Because last year, you know, it wasn't the best year for [USC with] in-state California kids, so it's ultimately [about] just trying to keep the California kids home and take over the west and just take over the country really."

Needless to say, the Trojans have made a nice push in Dixon's own recruitment.

But his decision remains "wide open," he says, as he released his Final 8 list on Wednesday, including USC along with Texas A&M, Nebraska, Oregon, Michigan, Cal, Washington State and LSU.

After tweeting out that list, Dixon went in-depth with TrojanSports.com about each of those finalists and where USC fits into everything.