Close of Camp Irvine Met With Cheers

The horn blew twice after 1 p.m. Wednesday, ending USC’s workmanlike summer training camp at UC Irvine, and the players on the field raised their arms and cheered.

“We’ve been here a little too long,” quarterback Carson Palmer said of the three-week camp. “We’re going a little crazy.”

Even kicker David Newbury, who won the starting job over David Bell and John Wall, was worn out from a routine of 80 practice kicks a day. “I’m so ready to get out of here,” he said.

Coach Paul Hackett had warned his players this would be a tough camp. He wanted to prepare them for the expected heat and physical play of Sunday’s opener against Penn State in the Kickoff Classic in East Rutherford, N.J.

“The work ethic and work level . . . they responded and gave us what we wanted,” he said.

The team will practice briefly at USC this morning before flying East. They will practice only 30 minutes at Giants Stadium on Friday and an hour Saturday.

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Trevor Roberts will accompany the team to New Jersey, but a strained foot will keep him in street clothes Sunday. Hackett said redshirt freshman Lenny Vandermade will take Roberts’ place at left guard. . . . As expected, walk-on players Matt Nickels and Ryan Shapiro were given scholarships. Nickels played well enough in spring and summer practice to be considered the No. 3 receiver behind Kareem Kelly and Marcell Allmond.