For three years, USC offensive lineman Gino Quinones has quietly gone to work for the Trojans. Quiet in the sense that there's been no chatter about him from coaches, no questions from reporters, no mentions on the weekly depth charts.

Heck, he even spent some time moonlighting as a scout team defensive lineman last fall due to the Trojans' depth issues.

So it certainly perked the ears when coach Lincoln Riley highlighted Quinones in his first interview of fall camp last week while addressing offensive line depth.

"I'd put Gino in that category," Riley said. "I thought Gino had a really nice close to spring, is a pretty physical player, is starting to learn multiple positions inside for us."

A few days later, after the Trojans' Monday night practice in the Coliseum, the topic of OL depth came up again with Riley. And again he praised Quinones, the fourth-year lineman from Honolulu, Hawaii.

Only this time he took it up a notch or two.

"I would say Gino has probably been the standout there for us right now. We've really been excited about how he's played," Riley said.

In tackles Bobby Haskins, Courtland Ford and Jonah Monheim, guards Andrew Vorhees and Justin Dedich, and center Brett Neilon, the Trojans have a clearly defined top 6 -- who could all play on Saturdays this fall.

Redshirt freshman offensive tackle Mason Murphy is probably next on the list -- more on him coming up.

But with Vorhees and Neilon moving on next year (and potentially Dedich), and promising second-year lineman Maximus Gibbs away from the program indefinitely due to a personal matter, rebuilding the interior of the offensive line list is a priority need over the next year.