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After having its spring practice cancelled after one day, and after having its traditional August preseason camp cancelled along with its season initially, the USC football team is finally cleared to begin again Friday.

The Trojans will hold their first formal preseason practice with about a month to ramp up to the start of a six-game regular-season that starts Nov. 7, in which there will be virtually no margin for error if the program wants to merit any consideration for national contention.

After mostly clearing the hurdles set forth by state and county public health authorities, USC can practice in a group of up to 75 players, meaning there will have to be two separate fields going and some logistical juggling from the coaching staff.

"But as far as what you are doing in practice, that is not going to change," coach Clay Helton said. "You are going to make sure that you're staying safe, that you have your masks available, that you are social distancing and being able to do the things following those health and safety protocols. But as far as being able to practice and doing the things that are needed to be ready to compete come Nov. 7, those things won't change."

All eyes will be on USC's new defensive staff, which after mostly trying to install a new defense through spring Zoom meetings and non-contact, individual-oriented workouts over the last month-plus, will finally get to work the players in a full capacity.

New defensive coordinator Todd Orlando was brought in to spark a unit that has been on the decline for several years.

The Trojans' 408.5 yards per game allowed last season ranked tied for 77th nationally, but more to the point it was the most yards ever given up by a USC defense. The Trojans' 29.4 points per game allowed was the second-worst ever for the program, behind only the 2000 season when they gave up 30.6 points per game.

The hope is that Orlando can fix all of that quickly, but it's certainly not ideal to make a transition to an entirely new scheme and way of operation without a full spring practice to work out the kinks.

"If you go back and look at his being a coordinator in the past, go back and look at how quickly those teams progressed defensively. I think that's, one, from his coaching style, but two, he does things that make it hard on college quarterbacks," Helton said of Orlando. "One, it's ultra aggressive, and it really gives us a great advantage with our personnel. This system fits our personnel right now. It has the ability to jump in four-down, go to an odd structure, three-down. Multiple coverages, multiple looks, hidden coverages that I think are hard on a quarterback and he's able to pressure from everywhere. I've gone against it as an offensive coordinator, I've gone against it as a head coach and it's not easy and I'm thankful that he's on our team.

"The way he coaches and his demeanor has been really good for our kids, too, especially over these last couple of weeks. He's really asserted himself even tenfold because of not having spring, so he has been extremely proactive with our kids and has done a great job as far as preparing this football team, and we're grateful that we have five weeks left before that first day."

On the offensive side, meanwhile, the optimism is even clearer and more tangible heading into the Trojans' second season under coordinator Graham Harrell.

Star quarterback Kedon Slovis is back for his sophomore season, looking to build off a breakout debut in which he passed for 3,502 yards, 30 touchdowns and 9 interceptions, while only getting better and better as the season progressed.

With a bevy of proven playmakers like wide receivers Amon-Ra St. Brown, Tyler Vaughns and Drake London, and a deep stable of running backs, there's every reason to think that the offense can be even better after ranking 20th nationally with 455.4 yards per game last season and averaging 32.5 points (35th nationally).

"Graham said it, he said, 'Coach, you'll see the chemistry of these guys. You'll see the quarterback progress even more,' and I felt like as Kedon progressed through that second half of the season we progressed as a team to start playing our best ball towards the end of the season last year," Helton said. "Now to be able to watch Kedon work with those skill players and see the timing the ball is coming out [with], the accuracy the ball is coming out with, the chemistry of those skill players with him, it's evident that being in the second year of the system and his comfort level with the kids he's been working with is clear on the field. It makes you excited as a coach."

That's the basic overview, but the fun of preseason is the details -- the position battles, the individual storylines, etc.

We break that all down here:

1. How does the defense come together in limited time? To expound on the earlier point, this odd season in which teams lost most or all of spring practice, benefits those with established systems and continuity. The Trojans have that benefit on the offensive side, but on defense they have an entirely new staff and scheme and little time to master it before the season opener. The more specific questions, though, are how Orlando will balance between 4-down and 3-down fronts and what he's able to get out of a linebacker group that largely underperformed last season. In the one spring practice USC did hold, the defense was mostly in 3-down looks with an offset, stand-up edge rusher (mainly sophomore Drake Jackson). For his part, Jackson, who was more of a traditional defensive end last season, said the transition will be seamless for him. But the Trojans need all 11 pieces working in rhythm. A large onus for keeping everyone on the same page will fall on veteran safeties Talanoa Hufanga and Isaiah Pola-Mao, as that position holds the communication responsibility in this defensive scheme. We'll get to the linebackers more in a minute, but another interesting aspect will be the situation at cornerback. New CBs coach Donte Williams prefers a boundary and field setup, which more specifically defines roles at that position and results in the cornerbacks switching sides of the field based on where the ball is spotted.

2. Can the offensive line do its part for this offense? This question got bumped down from the top spot when USC's top offensive lineman, redshirt junior Alijah Vera-Tucker, announced on Tuesday that he was reversing his decision to opt out of the season. Getting Vera-Tucker back solves the Trojans' dilemma at left tackle, but it doesn't totally erase concerns about the unit as a whole. While Vera-Tucker was one of the highest-graded guards nationally by PFF last season, that is his natural position (and where he will play at the next level), and how he handles the adjustment moving out to LT (and replacing first-round NFL draft pick Austin Jackson) is still to be seen. The same goes on the other side, where Jalen McKenzie is expected to move from right guard to right tackle full-time. He has some experience on the outside, but he also still has plenty to prove. And then what becomes of the interior of the line if both starting guards from last year are moved to tackle? Veterans Liam Jimmons, Liam Douglass, Andrew Vorhees and Justin Dedich will compete for those spots. While the USC offense doesn't have many questions entering this season, it's biggest one is notable -- if the protection up front doesn't come together, that will obviously undermine the advantages the Trojans have at the skill positions.

3. Will Todd Orlando be able to elevate the play at linebacker? OK, back to the defense. Orlando's area of expertise is coaching linebackers, and his track record is very encouraging. Also, USC is not lacking for talent at the position, which is why this pairing of coach and personnel is intriguing. But for the Trojans to truly elevate defensively this fall, Orlando is going to have to unlock junior Palaie Gaoteote's full potential, which has really mostly been seen in flashes and spurts to this point. Gaoteote played hurt at times last year in addition to missing games, so that surely factored into him not having the breakout sophomore season many expected, but this is a pivotal year for him -- and his development is an immensely pivotal piece for this defense as a whole. With Gaoteote projected to play the Rover linebacker spot in Orlando's defense, there is equal intrigue about the Mac LB position, where redshirt senior Jordan Iosefa looked to have the inside track before it was announced Friday he needs another procedure on his knee and is out for the season. But veteran Kana'i Mauga and redshirt freshman Ralen Goforth are talented players who look to fill that role.

4. How will USC handle the RB situation? This is a good dilemma, to be sure, but the Trojans have an interesting situation to sort out at running back, assuming everyone is healthy. Redshirt-senior Vavae Malepeai (team-high 503 rushing yards, 6 TDs last season), senior Stephen Carr (5.5 yards per carry, 22 receptions), redshirt sophomore Markese Stepp (team-best 6.4 YPC) and sophomore Kenan Christon (5.5 YPC, 5 total TDs, fastest option of the four) are all deserving of opportunities, and a four-way split in the backfield doesn't seem tenable or conducive to maximizing any of the individuals. We probably won't get any answers on this until the season starts, as practice is closed to the media due to COVID-19 protocols, but the questions will at least be asked over this next month about how USC plans to structure its backfield. Again, it's a much better quandary to have than the one the Trojans faced late last season, when Christon, pulled off the bench as an untested true freshman, was really the only healthy at the position.