Tickets are hard to find

It’s the toughest ticket in town, with prices ranging from $100 to $5,000 on one leading marketplace website.

But fans are not the only ones scrambling for tickets to Saturday’s showdown between top-ranked USC and fifth-ranked Ohio State at the Coliseum.

USC players are allocated four tickets to each home game. Several Trojans said Monday that their phones have been ringing and buzzing with requests from friends and family members.

“It’s crazy,” senior receiver Patrick Turner said. “You really can’t do anything unless one of the out-of-state freshmen doesn’t have anyone coming.”

Kyle Moore, a senior from Georgia, is still trying to find a ticket for a fifth family member.

“It’s tough, because everyone’s from California. And even if they’re from out of state, everyone’s family is coming to the Ohio State game,” Moore said.

Despite the ticket crunch and the mounting hype, players were happy that game week had finally arrived. The Trojans were off last week because of an open date.

“We’ve been running the plays for this game plan for about a week,” quarterback Mark Sanchez said.

Linebacker Rey Maualuga was among those energized for the start of practice, but he was happy to leave the field when Monday’s workout ended.

Maualuga spent about 20 minutes crawling across the field and performing punitive calisthenics after practice.

The senior said it was punishment for missing a scheduled workout with a strength coach.

“I paid for it,” Maualuga said.

Wright detained

Starting cornerback Shareece Wright was detained by Colton police at a party that authorities said got out of hand early Sunday.

Four people were arrested at the scene but Wright was released, Lt. Bill Burrows of the Colton Police Department said.

“At this point, we’re continuing to investigate,” Burrows said.

Wright, a Colton High alumnus, said only that the party was a gathering for someone being deployed to Iraq.

With an open date on the schedule, the Trojans did not practice over the weekend. Coach Pete Carroll, who had warned his players to avoid trouble, said the junior would not face team discipline.

“We went through the whole thing,” Carroll said. “We understand what happened.”

Quick kicks

Carroll reiterated that he expected Ohio State running back Chris “Beanie” Wells to play on Saturday. Tailbacks Allen Bradford and Broderick Green imitated Wells for the first-team defense. . . . Receiver Vidal Hazelton (ankle) did not practice.

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gary.klein@latimes.com

david.wharton@latimes.com