They’re Already Feeling It

The Trojans figure they know what’s coming Saturday against Washington, a team that leads the Pacific 10 Conference in sacks with 43.

“They pressure the quarterback,” Mike Van Raaphorst said. “Justin Vedder from Cal, they absolutely punished him.”

Van Raaphorst also knows that if the Huskies bring all that pressure, somebody’s open.

“It’s a fun game for a quarterback,” he said.

Freshman Carson Palmer, the No. 2 quarterback, played more than half of the last two games, and from the look of practice this week will get lots of time Saturday.

“The only way to stop them is throw quick, and put a receiver right where their linebackers came from,” Palmer said. “The coaches think they’re going to pin their ears back and come.

“I just want to play as much as possible.”

Coach Paul Hackett remains comfortable with his routine of bringing Palmer on in relief. “It works,” he said. “What we don’t want to happen is him go out and have a disappointment. We went to bring him along.”

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Freshman quarterback Jason Thomas, in only his second day of practice after ankle surgery, ended up in a heated tussle with starting defensive lineman Sultan Abdul-Malik.

No problem, as long as Thomas, a redshirt, didn’t hurt his ankle?

“No, as long as he didn’t hurt No. 44 [Abdul-Malik],” Hackett said with a laugh. “He isn’t going to help us play Washington. No. 44 is.”