The battle at quarterback for USC

With spring practice set to begin in two weeks, USC quarterbacks Mitch Mustain and Mark Sanchez are preparing for what is regarded as the most high-profile position battle in college football. Times reporter Gary Klein spoke with each player about the impending showdown. Today: Mustain, a third-year sophomore who redshirted last season at USC after starting eight games during a controversy-filled 2006 season at Arkansas.

Question:They call this a competition and say it’s going to be a competition. Do you view it that way?

Answer: I certainly think I’ll get a fair shot, but I don’t think it’s ridiculous to say that Mark’s the leader. For good reason he is. I consider him the leader in the race and I think Aaron [Corp] does and I know the coaches do. But I think it is wide open and I think we’ll all get a fair shot at it.

Q: How do you overcome that? If there’s a leader, a guy who’s been here, what do you think it’s going to take to win the job?

A: I definitely have to get better and I have to be consistent in what we do. Know what we do, know how to run it, know how to execute it without making mistakes. I think that will be the biggest thing, if I can continue to improve and be consistent.

Q:If you’re consistent and Mark doesn’t have a terrible spring, are you prepared for the fact that you may not win the job?

A: Mentally I am. Who knows? It’s definitely something coming in a year ago that I accepted. I knew it was going to be a probability and so I prepared myself for that. In that case I’ll be the backup and continue to get better. Not hope for the worst for Mark but definitely be ready if my opportunity comes up.

Q: Before you made your decision to come to USC, you cited Matt Cassel and said even USC’s backups were successful. You said that if you came out here and did not end up starting it would still be worth it. Do you still feel that way?

A: I think it’s set in on me a little more now how hard that is to do – to be able to sit back for the three years I have left. But at the same time I’d definitely agree with that even more now than I did. I love the school, I’ve had a great time and I love the program and so I would definitely not have any problem sticking around and continuing to get better and wait for my shot.

Q: Do you feel like you have gotten better?

A: Most certainly.

Q: In what way?

A: Every way. I feel like I’ve kind of gotten back to my game a little bit and been able to get back into my mind-state without having to deal with everything. And I definitely feel like once we reach the field and I’m able to kind of roll with my mistakes and roll with the punches and not have to evaluate so much I’ll be able to just play and learn. I’ll be even better off.

Q: What’s your relationship like with Mark?

A: I haven’t sensed any animosity. I think we get along fine. He’s helped me picking up the game, learning the play sheet, so I don’t have any animosity for him and I haven’t sensed any from him. And so I think it’s been fine.

Q: What did you learn from watching John David Booty last year? What do you take from what he went through?

A: He had a rough year, for certain, and you know a lot of it I think was out of his control. Any time you have an injury that affects you like that does it’s going to be tough… . I think a lot of people were kind of ready for Mark anyway and so I can’t imagine having that pressure on myself. The biggest thing I take is just the way he rolled with it. And I think he did a great job just keeping his mouth shut and to keep on playing. And to finish the way he did was awesome. I was impressed watching the Rose Bowl and thinking back on the year he had. Just how he finished, kept his attitude. He didn’t change at all during that whole time. He talked the same, he acted the same, he treated everybody the same and I know that was tough for him. If I put myself in his shoes it would be hard to deal with.

Q: How are you able to show leadership and assume that role on the team?

A: I’ve definitely been more vocal. I wasn’t during the season just because it really wasn’t my spot. I was just kind of sitting back, hiding and really just trying to develop relationships with the other guys. Now I’m kind of able to step up and be a little more vocal having the experience that I do. It was at a different school but I have it. And so it’s enabled me to kind of step up. Not in the sense that Mark has. He’s definitely, like I said, the guy that’s going to get us organized in practice and stuff like that. But to be able to know what’s going on to be able to vocalize that and get people where they need to be.

Q: What do you think is Mark’s best attribute?

A: Well, he’s smart, he really is. He knows what’s going on, he knows the offense, he knows what to do and I think he can execute that really well. He’s a tremendous athlete. He showed that [last season] and I think that’s one of the things that everybody had been missing for awhile is an athlete that can pick and move, that can escape pressure and things like that, that can really keep plays alive. And I think that’s a huge part of winning teams is guys that can keep the play going, that receivers know can get out and find them somewhere else.

Q:Anything different you’re doing than you’ve done in the past in terms of preparation?

A: I’m just trying to get back to the way I prepared before, just getting into it and understanding it and getting on the field and working it and really not getting too worked up over the good and the bad. And I think that’s my biggest thing. I’m really anxious to just get on the field so I can quit thinking about it and quit having to go through it in my mind.

Q: When you think back on your experience at Arkansas, how would you describe that?

A: Unique. But at the same time, you know, I loved it in the sense that it was a great learning experience. It’s taken a while to get away from that and to be able to look at the whole thing and kind of see everything go down.

Q: Your departure from Arkansas and circumstances that surrounded it continues to reverberate throughout college football. Your attorney requested [university] e-mails regarding an incident in which you received a controversial e-mail from a booster. And you requested [former coach] Houston Nutt’s cellphone records.

A: I’d really not like to talk about that.

Q: Well, how would you describe what happened there and what’s happened since? [Nutt resigned after the 2007 season and became coach at Mississippi, longtime athletic director Frank Broyles stepped down and chancellor John White resigned.]

A: I think it’s definitely a situation that just shows when you don’t do things professionally, when you don’t do it properly, what can happen. What we’ve seen the past couple months has been the result of that. And that’s the difference between the program we run here and the program that’s been run there.

Q: When you left Arkansas, you said you didn’t want to go through the recruiting process again and then quickly narrowed your possible destinations to Tulsa and USC. [Mustain’s former high school coach, Gus Malzahn, had joined Tulsa’s staff after resigning as Arkansas’ offensive coordinator]. What was your thinking on that?

A: Every big recruit out of high school wants to take all these options and they should. They should take all their time up until the last day to look at that and figure out what you want because you don’t know. You’ve never been to college, you’ve never dealt with the coaches, you’ve never had to live with them. And so it’s hard to gauge. It was different for me [after a year at Arkansas]. I’d dealt with a certain type of coach. I knew what I wanted and what I didn’t want. It was just a lot different deal, so I narrowed it down immediately. I’m familiar with Tulsa, I like their program, and I like their coaches. It certainly was different from Arkansas and Southern California. I thought they had kind of a small-time program but I wanted to play on the big stage. I wanted to stay on that because I thought I could and I certainly still think I can. I think it’s hard to argue with Coach [Pete] Carroll and what he’s done here and what he represents. That’s just the first thing that came up and I really thought about it and got a hold of him and he gave me that opportunity. When I talked to Coach Carroll I knew it was going to be one of those two. Tulsa was still kind of close to where I live and this was something different. It’s the perfect opportunity.

Q: Who would you like to play if you won the job and led USC to the national championship game?

A: Oh man, that’s easy. Florida. I think that there’s a lot of other teams and I think everybody’s kind of sick to death of hearing about the other teams. We play one of them this year… . Florida, at least the way I’ve seen it, has been I guess you could say our equivalent, not in the sense they’ve had our history in the last five or six years, just in the fact that they’re the big team. They’re the sexy team in the East. On the East Coast they’re it. You’ve got Tim Tebow; they’re loaded. They’re young like we are. I just think it would be a great matchup for the two of us. Eventually, if not this next year, two or three years down the road would be awesome.

Q:Third and goal at the six against Ohio State. What play do you want to call?

A: What hash are we on? (laughing) I don’t even know. If our receivers step up this year, ideally I’d like to be able to give it to one of them. But who knows? We’ll see how that rides out. If Joe McKnight blows up, maybe him. I don’t know. I guess it’s nice to be able to have those options.

Q: No quarterback draw?

A: Not from the six. I don’t know. There’s some big dudes. I might not make it that far.

gary.klein@latimes.com