There was so much to talk about with the USC offense this fall -- Kedon Slovis' breakout, Michael Pittman's starring role, fellow wideout Drake London's emergence, Markese Stepp, Kenan Christon, etc. -- that eventually Bru McCoy's situation stopped being a talking point.

McCoy, the 5-star wide receiver from Mater Dei High School, was the headliner of USC's incoming 2019 class (after a brief detour to Texas), but this fall would end up a lost season for the highly-anticipated freshman.

He had the lingering illness that sidelined him dating back to player-run practices over the summer and kept him off the practice field in fall camp and through most of the season. Even once he was past the illness setbacks, USC's focus with McCoy was having him work with the strength and conditioning staff to get back into football shape.

USC never applied for an eligibility waiver -- related to his transfers to and then back from Texas -- and it wasn't expected the NCAA would have granted one regardless.

So the focus for McCoy was always on 2020 -- which is why it was an encouraging sight to see the talented prospect out on the practice field this week in pads with his teammates during the Trojans' Holiday Bowl prep.

In addition to preparing for the upcoming matchup (Iowa next Friday, in USC's case), bowl practices are used by programs everywhere to get a head start on preparing young players for the year ahead.

And to that end, McCoy had a message. After mostly keeping a low profile on social media this fall, McCoy tweeted this week: "From here on out my head's down and I'm working to help this team win. Nothing more, nothing less."

And USC offensive coordinator Graham Harrell might have been just as excited as Trojans fans to see McCoy -- ranked the No. 12 overall prospect nationally in the 2019 class -- back on the field doing his thing.

"I love it. You hear so much about Bru, and I've never got to see him play live, so seeing him out here moving around, even limited, no matter how much he's doing, it's fun to watch him. It's kind of like getting a new toy at Christmas -- you get to kind of see something new and see something different and it's awesome to see," Harrell said Tuesday. "... If nothing else, bowl prep for those guys particularly can set them up for a big year the following year because you almost get another spring ball out of them. You get work, and whether you play them or not, you're getting work, you're getting development."

USC had one of the best receiving corps in the country this year -- one that produced a Biletnikoff Award finalist and second-team All-America selection in senior Michael Pittman, three receivers overall with at least 850 yards entering the bowl game and enough depth to have four receivers each top 100 yards in the same game.

Pittman won't return in 2020, and draft-eligible redshirt junior Tyler Vaughns (68 catches for 858 yards and 6 TDs) has a decision to make on his future as well. Amon-Ra St. Brown (68-879-6) will be a focal point as a junior one way or another, Drake London (35-533-4) will look to build on a strong finish to his freshman season and then it will be a matter of who steps up to fill in the voids.

McCoy and 4-star prospect Kyle Ford, who played a very limited role late in the season after completing his rehab from ACL surgery, will be prime candidates to carve out roles next season while sophomore John Jackson III and veteran Velus Jones will hope for expanded roles as well.

And while Harrell's focus is mostly on the Holiday Bowl matchup with Iowa, it seems he's allowed himself to at least think a little about what that future might look like next year with a 6-foot-3, 210-pound playmaker like McCoy in the mix.

"To have him out here has been fun. Again, I've never seen him do anything live until recently, and obviously he's still trying to get back into football shape, but when he goes you can see why he's so special," Harrell said. "He has twitch, he's a big body, and to be as big as he [is] and have the twitch, have the skills to change direction and move like he does, it's fun to watch. So he's going to be a special player here and I'm glad we have him."