USC football: Tailback C.J. Gable keeping his cool

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C.J. Gable is managing, but for the ultra-competitive junior, staying calm while other USC tailbacks are granted the majority of the workload is not easy.

“It’s killing me right now — I want to be out there so bad,” Gable said. “But I have to wait my turn.”

Gable, who started every regular-season game in 2008, did not get a single carry in USC’s 18-15 victory over Ohio State.

In years past, the situation might have led to a blow-up or a few choice words from Gable when asked about it by the media.

But Gable vowed before the season to control his emotions. So if Joe McKnight, Stafon Johnson and Allen Bradford are ahead of him on the depth chart, Gable said this week that he would focus on returning kickoffs and run and block better when he gets tailback opportunities.

“If it’s garbage work I have to do ... I’ll do the cleanup and show them that I’m still going hard no matter what,” said Gable, who rushed for 37 yards in seven late-second-half carries against San Jose State in the season opener.

Coach Pete Carroll said Gable did not play tailback against Ohio State because the rhythm of the game stunted the Trojans’ rotation.

“Some weeks it’s like that,” Carroll said. “You don’t know when it’s going to happen.”

--Gary Klein