Five storylines to watch in USC's spring showcase Saturday

The USC football team still has two full weeks of spring practice left, but the Trojans will hold their spring game -- or spring showcase, as it's officially called -- Saturday in front of up to 5,000 fans and family members inside the Coliseum.

The event, which starts at 1 p.m., will also be televised on Pac-12 Network.

It's unclear how many tickets have been claimed with players' family and friends, donors and season-ticket holders getting the first chance at the limited availability.

But regardless it should be the most fans the Trojans have played in front of since the 2019 Holiday Bowl. (Family members were allowed into USC's road game at Arizona in the fall, but that was the lone exception).

"Obviously, last season was a little different, just not being able to see my parents, all the Trojan family in the stands. So it will be really exciting to look up and be able to see my mom and dad, little sister in the stands this weekend," cornerback Chris Steele said. "It's definitely something that the rest of the team is very excited about too. I mean, it's different when you have your support system there supporting you. I think everybody's really excited about that. It should be a really fun time. I think it's also going to make the energy go up a lot higher too."

Said tight end Erik Krommenhoek: "Just being able to have people in the Coliseum, just noise, any sort of non-artificial noise I think just the guys in general are super excited. Obviously you want fans there. It's more fun, they get to see you play. That's part of why people come to USC. ... It's a beautiful venue and we want people in there. We hope we can get as many in there now and even more in there for the season."

Whether watching in person or at home on television, here are five storylines to keep an eye on Saturday.

RELATED: Early reviews on USC's 13 newcomers this spring camp

This will be fans' first glimpse of highly-touted freshmen quarterbacks Jaxson Dart and Miller Moss, who both enrolled early to be able to go through spring practice.

They've been alternating work with the second-team offense, along with veteran Mo Hasan, all spring, and any determination on the backup QB job will surely wait until sometime late in August.

But a strong performance in the Coliseum with the spotlight of fans and a television audience would leave a strong impression on the coaching staff.

We broke down our in-depth observations so far of both Dart and Moss here.

Don't write off Hasan, though. He initially came to USC last year as a walk-on from Vanderbilt with minimal college game experience, but he throws a nice ball and has held his own this spring.

Of course, just as notable for fans will be watching third-year starter Kedon Slovis sling it around the Coliseum after acknowledging that his confidence just wasn't right last season coming off an injury, with a disrupted offseason and seeing the ball flutter out of his hands on a number of passes.

He's looked fine this spring in terms of his release, but Slovis has also thrown several interceptions to offset his handful of highlights from what has overall been a disappointing offensive showing for the Trojans in practice.

The point being, it would be nice to see the offense and QB1 find some rhythm and rack up some big plays Saturday in the Coliseum.

We thought we might see a competition this spring for the left tackle spot vacated by projected first-round NFL draft pick Alijah Vera-Tucker. In fact, we were told by the coaches we would see a lot of rotation and competition along the offense line.

We have not.

Sophomore Courtland Ford has taken every first-team rep at left tackle in the five practices (out of eight) that have been open to media so far this spring, and the first-team OL as a whole has remained unchanged. So barring a spring transfer addition, it seems safe to project Ford for that role this season.

The former 3-star prospect, who made one start at left guard last fall, has looked good so far in the role, which may be one reason there hasn't been more rotation at that spot.

The spring game will be a good showcase for Ford, though, as it figures to be the most plays he will have had in any practice all spring and the Trojans' talented defensive line will be trying to make its own statement.

It's also worth paying special attention to second-team left tackle Casey Collier and second-team right tackle Jonah Monheim, as the fellow second-year linemen project as the most likely to move up to first-team if a need arises.

Sophomore defensive end Tuli Tuipulotu, another overachieving former 3-star prospect, has a special combination of hype going right now.

There were, of course, the flashes of great potential he showed last season while forcing his way onto the field as a true freshman and seeing his role grow over the short six-game season. Then there's the praise that is coming down from the coaching staff about how he is establishing himself and looking poised for a leadership role up front. And the final ingredient is continuing to show it on the field this spring, which he has.

Even with USC losing stalwart nose tackle Marlon Tuipulotu (Tuli's older brother) to the NFL and seeing presumed replacement Brandon Pili go down with a serious-looking injury in practice last week, we're expecting the Trojans defensive line to be even better in 2021 with a full spring and offseason under coach Vic So'oto.

With Tuipulotu, junior outside linebacker Drake Jackson (who is another headliner Saturday with a flare for seizing the spotlight in such moments) and later 5-star signee Korey Foreman joining the team this summer, the pass rush could be a true strength for this defense.

While you're looking at the defensive line Saturday, also take notice of big No. 93 -- freshman DT Jay Toia, who has the physical potential to be a key cog in the middle of the line for several years once he fully establishes himself.

USC's wide receiver group has been a little short on personnel this spring, with mainstays Amon-Ra St. Brown and Tyler Vaughns moving on to the next level, projected starter Bru McCoy inactive in team periods through at least the first seven practices, wildcard Kyle Ford still working his way back from his second ACL surgery and intriguing freshmen Kyron Ware-Hudson and Joseph Manjack not arriving until the summer.

So we've seen junior star Drake London play mostly outside receiver for a change, sophomore Gary Bryant Jr. also vacate the slot and play mostly on the outside, Colorado transfer and prototypical slot weapon K.D. Nixon work all over and freshman Michael Jackson III shine in his second-team reps.

McCoy should be back Saturday, though. He missed the first two weeks due to health protocols and had to be eased back in the first two practices of this week per NCAA rules.

But if he's full-go Saturday, it will be interesting to see what that means for London and Bryant, who have been fixtures as the first-team outside receivers.

We still expect London to eventually end up in his familiar inside receiver role that he's dominated the last two years, but Saturday could be telling for how committed the Trojans are to using Bryant on the outside. Either way, we'd expect more aerial highlights during the spring showcase than the typical practice session produces (we hope, at least).

So there's a lot to watch with this group -- McCoy hoping to emerge as USC's next star receiver, Bryant looking to prove he deserves a full-time role, Michael Jackson III looking to open more eyes as an impressive freshman, London looking to show he can dominate wherever he lines up, etc.

Replacing safety Talanoa Hufanga remains one of the best position battles ongoing (along with RB, backup QB and perhaps NT if Pili's injury is season-threatening).

Redshirt junior Chase Williams has had the inside track on that spot all spring, but Texas transfer Xavion Alford moved up to the first-team alongside Williams this week when entrenched starter Isaiah Pola-Mao shifted to nickel (at least for now, in response to the depleted depth chart there).

We don't think this competition is necessarily over yet, and the spring game performance for both Williams and Alford could really set the tone for how it's viewed heading into fall camp. (Even though there are still two weeks of spring ball left after Saturday).

(Meanwhile, USC's three 4-star freshmen safeties -- Calen Bullock, Xamarion Gordon and Anthony Beavers -- are all early enrollees this spring and have shown some flashes. They should get ample second-team work, mixing and matching together, Saturday, and are worth a spotlight.)

As for the other aforementioned position battle, the running backs -- redshirt seniors Vavae Malepeai and Stephen Carr, Texas transfer Keaontay Ingram and freshman Brandon Campbell (junior Kenan Christon is running track this spring) -- figure to be rotated evenly and nothing will be decided at this spot until summer.

The newcomers have both been impressive, and in Campbell's case specifically, he's really going to have to consistently stand out and seize moments like this if he's going to win a role over one of those older backs. There's no doubting his talent -- it just seems unlikely the coaches are truly going to sit one of the seniors, and they continue to talk about shortening the RB rotation this year. We shall see.