Defensive end Christian Rector and cornerback Chris Steele practiced Tuesday and all indications are both are on track to play Saturday as USC hosts No. 7/8 Oregon.
Rector was shut down after the Notre Dame game to give his lingering ankle injury (which occurred in Week 2) more rest to try to get him back to 100 percent.
"We'll make sure there's no setback from it, but it was good to give Christian that rest. I think he's confident now to go out there and really be 100 percent," coach Clay Helton said.
Steele, meanwhile, missed the Colorado game after tweaking his knee late last week. Sources told TrojanSports.com that it was largely precautionary after tests came back negative, and his return to practice this week was expected.
"It was good to see Chris back out here. Both [he and Rector] performed well today and I didn't think they had setbacks, but we'll see how they feel tomorrow morning," Helton said.
Those are indeed encouraging signs, but that only accounts for a fraction of USC's injury list.
Defensive end Drake Jackson (ankle, missed one game), linebacker Palaie Gaoteote (ankle, missed two games), safety Talanoa Hufanga (shoulder, missed one game), running back Stephen Carr (hamstring, missed one game) and running back Vavae Malepeai (knee surgery) did not practice. But perhaps it was encouraging that neither Jackson nor Gaoteote were wearing a walking boot anymore.
Asked if he was particularly hopeful for any of those guys playing -- like Jackson -- Helton reiterated they're day-to-day.
"We're going to have to see, to be honest with you," Helton said. "It was good to see them on the grass today and moving a little bit. That doesn't mean you're ready to go play a game, but it was good to see them out here. But right now they're all listed day-to-day."
**Check the Trojan Talk message board for some further insight on Jackson.**
Meanwhile, freshman wide receiver Munir McClain had successful surgery Tuesday morning on his torn ACL.
"It went very successful. We're happy for him and we look forward to seeing him next year," Helton said.
Redshirt sophomore defensive lineman Jacob Lichtenstein, who has missed the whole season, is set to have surgery on his calves.
"I think it's a compartment syndrome surgery on [the] calf to relieve pressure on both -- he's pulled both calves -- so we're going to go ahead and do that," Helton said.
And senior linebacker Jordan Iosefa still is not ready to return after preseason knee surgery, after initially being given a 4-6 week recovery timeline after surgery. Helton confirmed Iosefa will redshirt and return next season, which means he can still play in up to four games this year if able.
"The knee surgery that Jordan had was a little bit more significant than the other one he had on the other knee, and it's taken a little bit longer time. Right now we're looking at him just staying at that four games and trying to bring him back for an extra year -- that's the plan right now. But right now we can't even get him to game 1," Helton said.
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