USC's remaining RB tandem in line for increased roles, prime opportunity

With leading rusher Vavae Malepeai undergoing knee surgery Tuesday, the USC coaches are left to decide how to divide carries between their other two prominent running backs and whether a third will be needed at some point.

While Malepeai's injury is unfortunate news for both the player and the team, it comes amidst further clamoring for redshirt freshman Markese Stepp to get even more use after he rushed for 82 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries at Notre Dame.

Whether it would have happened organically or not will remain unknown, because with Malepeai (team-high 87 carries for 406 yards and 4 TDs) sidelined, the Trojans have no choice but to lean more heavily on both Stepp (241 yards, 2 TDs, team-best 6.9 yards per carry) and junior Stephen Carr (233 yards, 2 TDs, 5.8 yards per carry).

But what exactly will that look like Saturday against Arizona? Hard to say.

"It will play out in the game," USC running backs coach Mike Jinks said Tuesday. "We've got two guys that have established themselves. They'll go in, get the majority of the carries and if it's one of the ball games where they're playing a ton of drop-8 and you see the carries get up to the 45-50 range then there's going to have to be a third guy.

"We have two guys that are more than capable to get that job done in [Quincy Jountti] and Kenan [Christon]. I know they're excited about their opportunity. The hope is at the end of the day you guys ask me why I hadn't played one of those other guys."

That ending to Jinks' response felt like an acknowledgment of the continued questions about Stepp's usage. He still hasn't had more than 10 carries in a game despite consistently maximizing his touches, and it didn't seem that Jinks was all too interested in getting drawn into the topic.

He was asked what Stepp showed him Saturday night, as he twisted, turned, pushed and willed his way to a visually impressive 19-yard run in the second quarter (his second 19-yard run of the game already), added a 25-yard pickup later and then drove through a pile of defenders for a late 2-yard touchdown after being hit almost immediately at the line of scrimmage.

"Same thing he's shown me all year," Jinks said simply.

He was also asked if Stepp's incrementally-increased usage the last two games reflects that he's improving in the nuances of the position.

"I think Markese has got a tremendous future," he said concisely.

It's easy to understand where Jinks is coming from. Stepp is getting plenty of praise from fans and media as is -- from a coaches' perspective he surely doesn't feel the need to feed more into that as he continues to push Stepp to keep working to improve in all areas.

One point of discussion Jinks and Stepp have had since the Notre Dame game was learning to make his cut or move on a tackler in space just before he gets to the defender, rather than showing himself too early. Stepp, who has created most of his highlights through his sheer physicality, spoke specifically about his first 19-yard run Saturday in which he burst through a wide-open hole and then was brought down by Fighting Irish DB Kyle Hamilton.

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