BREAKING: RB MarShawn Lloyd out for USC vs. Washington

USC is surprisingly without one of its top offensive playmakers Saturday for its showdown with No. 5-ranked Washington, as running back MarShawn Lloyd is out.

USC has not made any announcement as to the reason Lloyd is not playing, but he came out on the field without pads on to watch his teammates go through pregame warmups.

Lloyd is coming off arguably his best game as a Trojan and spoke to reporters after practicing Tuesday, so there were no signs he might be inactive.

Lloyd has rushed for 776 yards on a consistently robust 7.7 yards per carry with 8 touchdowns, plus 157 receiving yards.

His 7.7 yards per carry is the second-best nationally among Power 5 running backs with at least 50 carries (behind only Oregon's Jordan James -- 7.95).

Lloyd, the South Carolina transfer and former five-star prospect, was arguably the biggest difference-maker in USC's 50-49 win over Cal as he rushed for 115 yards and 2 TDs and had 3 catches for 72 yards. That included receptions of 16 and 53 yards on back-to-back plays to set up the Trojans' first touchdown of their fourth quarter comeback, a 9-yard touchdown run on their game-tying drive and then a 56-yard run to set up the go-ahead and decisive touchdown.

Without him, the Trojans will lean heavily on redshirt senior Austin Jones, who has 258 rushing yards (5.2 yards per carry) and 5 touchdowns this season.

Jones took over a larger role down the stretch last season after former lead back Travis Dye was injured and rushed for 120 yards vs. UCLA and 154 vs. Notre Dame in back-to-back weeks.

Behind him, freshman Quinten Joyner has rushed for 124 yards and a touchdown in limited work, logging only 2 offensive snaps since the bye week in mid September.

But the Trojans have sophomore Raleek Brown active for the first time since the season opener. Brown had a smaller than expected role in the first game and then decided to protect his redshirt. He has continued to practice with the team, working on scout team the last time reporters saw any meaningful practice weeks ago. He can play in up to four games and still redshirt, so he could be active for the remainder of the regular-season, but it's unknown what role he might have as head coach Lincoln Riley has not commented on the situation.