USC SCOUTING REPORT

Carson Palmer made the first start of his career as a freshman against Washington in 1998, the season before the Huskies hired Rick Neuheisel as their coach. But Neuheisel had met Palmer even before then, at a Colorado football camp, and remembers him vividly.

“As good a high school quarterback as I have ever seen,” Neuheisel recalled. “Very poised, big arm, great mobility, great ball speed. ... So I know what he is capable of.”

If anything, Neuheisel still has concerns about breaking in his quarterback, the inexperienced Cody Pickett, who struggled against California last week before completing two long touchdown passes to rally the Huskies to victory.

“He did have the experience of coming back in a game and throwing balls down the field,” Neuheisel said. “Those are all big pluses in the development of a young quarterback.”

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Tailbacks Chris Howard and Darryl Poston figure to carry the ball some against Washington at Husky Stadium this afternoon.

With Malaefou MacKenzie struggling to return from a knee injury, the Trojans have become perilously thin in the backfield. Howard and Poston have practiced well at times but need to be more consistent if they are to become reliable backups to starter Sultan McCullough.

“They’ll need to play themselves into the position,” Coach Pete Carroll said. “They have both shown flashes of things, but it won’t help until they show it in games.”