Royster May Leave USC for NFL Draft : College football: Tailback who did not play in final three games says he is ‘almost certain’ to forgo senior season.

USC tailback Mazio Royster said Thursday that he is “almost certain” he will make himself available for the NFL draft this spring, giving up his senior season of college eligibility.

“I’m not 100% sure,” said Royster, adding that he has enrolled for spring classes, which start next week. “It might be 99.9, but it’s not 100. . . . I don’t want to close the door, should I change my mind.”

After rushing for 1,168 yards in the 1990 season, joining Anthony Davis and Charles White as the only Trojans to rush for more than 1,000 yards as sophomores, Royster ran for only 542 yards this past season as his playing time was cut substantially.

He didn’t play at all in the last three games.

“It was a very stressful season for me, especially since there was no clear-cut reason why I didn’t play at all in the last three games,” Royster said.

“That would be a reason to go--so I wouldn’t be subjected to that emotional torment.

“I think right now there might be a little mystique about me, in terms of, ‘Yeah, he can still do it.’ But I think another year like this, and people will start doubting me and think that maybe I have an attitude problem or I can’t hack it.”