Perry Will Start at Quarterback : USC: Sophomore is Smith’s choice after intrasquad scrimmage. Conway will be a flanker against Memphis State.

USC Coach Larry Smith, apparently abandoning his plan to alternate two players at the position, said Friday that sophomore Reggie Perry would be the Trojans’ starting quarterback this season.

Smith had said after spring practice that Perry, whose three snaps from center last season at the end of a 56-7 victory over Oregon State represent USC’s only experience at the position, would share time at quarterback with sophomore Curtis Conway.

One might start six games, the other five, Smith said. And he listed Perry and Conway co-No. 1 on the preseason depth chart.

But after an intrasquad scrimmage Friday at UC Irvine, Smith said that Perry would start at quarterback in USC’s opener against Memphis State on Sept. 2 at the Coliseum, and that Conway, who had made it clear to Smith that he did not want to play quarterback, would start at flanker.

“I think that to try to alternate two quarterbacks is too disruptive,” Smith said. “I think Curtis would prefer to play wide receiver, but he’s not adverse to playing quarterback (if necessary). He understands his position, and I think we’ve got it all worked out.”

Besides playing flanker, Conway will be Perry’s backup.

“I’m still going to practice him at quarterback some and still work him into a game, hopefully--maybe--as a quarterback,” Smith said of Conway, an All-American quarterback and state sprint champion at Hawthorne High.

“It’s very possible--I’m not saying it will definitely happen--that Curtis will go in and run the offense for . . . two or three series.”

Smith said that Perry made great progress this summer.

“His passing has improved tremendously, and he has showed great leadership,” Smith said. “He runs the offense quite well.”

The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Perry came to USC from Denison, Tex., where he passed and ran for more than 3,000 yards in three seasons.

Although he has yet to attempt a pass for the Trojans, Perry figured to inherit the starting quarterback position after Todd Marinovich left school in January and made himself available for the NFL draft.

But then Smith, with no other quarterbacks available, moved Conway from flanker during spring practice to split time with Perry and was so impressed that he announced that Conway would remain at quarterback.

Perry was glad to hear that Smith changed his mind.

“This is something that I’ve always wanted. It’s a great surprise,” Perry said.

Trojan Notes

In Friday’s scrimmage, Reggie Perry completed five of seven passes for 82 yards, including a seven-yard touchdown pass to fullback Scott Lockwood, and ran for 13 yards in four carries. . . . Curtis Conway, in limited time at quarterback, carried four times for 28 yards but did not attempt a pass. . . . Other touchdowns: a 23-yard run by tailback Mazio Royster, who carried four times for 39 yards; and a 58-yard pass play, freshman quarterback Corby Smith to freshman split end Tyler Cashman.