USC football: Receiver Ronald Johnson says it’s tough to watch

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USC receiver Ronald Johnson stood on the sideline during warmups wondering what might have been.

Johnson, a junior from Michigan, had looked forward to playing at Ohio Stadium since the day he signed a national letter of intent with the Trojans in February 2007.

Johnson, however, suffered a broken collarbone in the Trojans’ final training camp scrimmage and is not expected to return for a few more weeks. The absence of Johnson, USC’s No. 2 receiver, takes the Trojans’ best deep threat away from freshman quarterback Matt Barkley.

‘This is hard,’ he said, as teammates went through pregame drills. ‘I remember seeing Ohio State on the schedule here when I was getting recruited.

‘You work so hard and then you can’t play. It’s tough.’

Johnson said that seeing some family members during the trip softened the blow of not being able to play. He is scheduled to have an X-ray in the coming week to determine his progress.

--Gary Klein