Thursday notes: RB Quincy Jountti earns scholarship, USC chooses captains

Fans watching USC's Fall Showcase in the Coliseum a couple weekends ago -- not to mention reporters at various times -- likely had to consult the roster to see who No. 26 was carrying the football.

Redshirt junior walk-on Quincy Jountti got a lot of work for USC in the preseason, especially with veteran Vavae Malepeai sidelined much of camp with a knee sprain.

And after practice Thursday, the Trojans rewarded Jountti with a scholarship for the 2019 season.

"He's done a wonderful job, and talking to our staff, we had the availability to do one and per man, unsolicited, I went to each coach and every coach said Quincy," USC coach Clay Helton said. "You can see it the way he handled last year sitting out, what he does on special teams, anytime we need somebody to help out and give any type of look, he's been there. So he's very deserving of it."

Jountti transferred to USC last fall from Sacramento State, where he was a running back and kick returner as a freshman and then a defensive back as a sophomore. His older brother Corbin made the same move, starting his college career at Northern Arizona before joining USC in 2017 and eventually earning a scholarship.

So USC decided to have Corbin be the one to present the news to his brother Thursday.

"If you remember Corbin, his older brother, played for us, also walked on and earned a scholarship. We got to have a special moment as a team, and we did a video with Corbin giving the scholarship to his brother, which was a really neat moment for our team," Helton said.

USC went through camp with four scholarship running backs in Malepeai, Stephen Carr, Markese Stepp and true freshman Kenan Christon.

"[He's] been a phenomenal teammate and really going to help us and be a major contributor this year," Helton said of Jountti.

USC's players voted for the four team captains this season, and the choices were defensive end Christian Rector, wide receiver Michael Pittman, linebacker John Houston and linebacker Jordan Iosefa.

"I thought the kids did a wonderful job of voting for their leaders," Helton said. "... Guys that have really carried our group, not only in spring but through the summer and fall training camp."

USC is set to formally reveal its depth chart Friday, and there aren't many unknowns at this point.

But Helton was asked what position was the hardest to sort through, and naturally he said the defensive backs.

It's expected that sophomore Olaijah Griffin will be locked in and redshirt freshman Isaac Taylor-Stuart and true freshman Chris Steele will split reps. (Griffin may also be rotated out, but he was the most obvious of the young corners to lock up a job.)

Sophomore Talanoa Hufanga and redshirt sophomore Isaiah Pola-Mao will be the safeties, and it's expected that redshirt sophomore Greg Johnson will likely be the starting nickel with redshirt freshman Chase Williams rotating in and possibly getting some snaps at safety as well.

As DBs coach Greg Burns said Wednesday, expect rotation at some of those spots early on.

"When you look at the secondary right now, you've got some really talented individuals there. They need experience and we're going to have to play a lot of guys in the back end and that's our plan is to be able to play three to four corners, to be able to play three safeties, to be able to [rotate] at nickel," Helton said.

"Our front is pretty solidified. I think we're two deep and I think we're really solid. We'll have some growing pains in the back end. I think Clancy [Pendergast] has done a wonderful job mixing in some coverages that can help them. They'll have successes, they'll have failures, but I know this -- they're ultra talented and as they grow we'll grow as a team."

Outside linebacker Abdul-Malik McClain had his knee scoped and will be out multiple weeks. That's the only injury update Helton provided Thursday.

Helton says a lot of very positive things about his team a lot of the time --- well, all the time. So his praise sometimes needs to be kept in perspective. But when he truly takes it to another level, it's worth passing along.

"This is the most fun I've ever had as a coach in 25 years, this group. They're a joy to coach and they're kind of a shut up and work bunch," he said Thursday.

So there you have it.