Walking Wounded Try to Rally

Some familiar faces showed up at USC practice Tuesday. Linebacker Matt Grootegoed, lineman Faaesea Mailo and tailback Malaefou MacKenzie, all of whom have been nursing injuries, returned with mixed results.

Grootegoed seemed to fare best, feeling a little winded but participating in every phase of practice, from running to scrimmages. He expects to play in the opener Saturday against San Jose State and it cannot come a moment too soon for the freshman who redshirted the 2000 season with mononucleosis.

“Thoughts of last year kept popping into my head,” he said. “I had to get back on the field.”

Mailo started off more gingerly, getting limited work as he returns from a knee injury. Projected as a starter, he has watched Norm Katnik fill his spot at left guard.

“I want to keep learning but I want to earn [the starting job] back,” he said. “We still have a few more days of preparation.”

Coach Pete Carroll said he will play it safe with Mailo.

“We don’t need to start him unless he has a heck of a week,” Carroll said. MacKenzie, expected to be a pivotal part of the new spread offense. The senior, nursing an injured knee, did some individual workouts. The team doctor was scheduled to reexamine him Tuesday evening.

A decision on his status was not expected until Thursday at the soonest. In the meantime, Carroll said Chris Howard will move up to the number two spot at tailback.

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Back in his days as a wide receiver for Ouachita Baptist University, in Arkadelphia, Ark., Fitz Hill took his share of long bus rides to road games. Now, as the new coach at San Jose State, he wants his players to have a taste of that experience.

“Being a former Division II player, we performed very well in any situation we were in and we used to ride six to seven hours before the game,” Hill said.

So the Spartans will climb aboard at 7:15 a.m. Friday and make the drive from San Jose to Los Angeles, arriving sometime in the afternoon.

“I’m looking forward to spending time together like that ... spending time as a cohesive group,” Hill said.

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Carroll wasn’t entirely pleased with the team’s execution as USC enters its first game-week practice schedule but liked the attitude he saw in his players. “I felt a little sense of urgency that you look for,” he said. “You can tell they’re excited.” ... Daniel Pryor, the Compton Junior College defensive end who failed to qualify academically to play at USC, has enrolled at Arizona State and practiced with the team Tuesday.