Minor Injuries Keep Some Out of Practice

Defensive players Taso Papadakis, Prentice Hill and Sammy Knight joined offensive starters Faaesea Mailo and Travis Claridge on the sideline at USC’s practice Wednesday because of minor injuries.

Papadakis, starting middle linebacker, seems to have the most troublesome injury: a high ankle sprain, which kept him out of the Houston game.

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Junior safety Grant Pearsall has suddenly become one of the Trojans’ best high-impact tacklers. He forced a fumble at Houston on a punt return and later made the hit of the game.

“It’s just a confidence thing,” secondary coach Dennis Thurman said. “Grant played almost every position in high school, from quarterback to extra points, and here he’s had to specialize. After feeling his way around a couple of years, he now has a clear understanding of what we want him to do out there.”