Torres Says He’s Ready to Play

Offensive lineman Eric Torres, who for the last eight months has been rehabilitating a broken left ankle suffered in the Orange Bowl, said Thursday that he will be ready to play for the first time this season when the 10th-ranked Trojans play at Arizona State on Saturday.

Torres, a 6-foot-5, 300-pound senior, started at every position on the line except center last season. He donned pads a few weeks ago and has gradually increased the stress on his ankle. He had a CT scan Tuesday and said the injury has healed properly.

“[The ankle] is not 100%, but it’s not going to be 100% for a while,” Torres said. “It’s sound enough to play and I have good confidence that I’m not going to reinjure myself.”

Torres’ return comes at a fortuitous time for the Trojans because they will be without starting right tackle Winston Justice, who suffered a sprained ankle last week against California and has not practiced this week.

Junior John Drake will start in Justice’s place, but Torres is expected to be part of a rotation at the position.

“I had a good week of practice,” Torres said. “I think big John is going to do a good job, and I’ll just be ready to help in any way that they need me.”

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Coach Pete Carroll said USC might abandon its tailback rotation against Arizona State if one player establishes himself during the game.

“We’re going to look to see who’s hot and go with the guy,” Carroll said. “I want to get us flying at the line of scrimmage and see if we can get good push and make things happen a little bit better than we have.”

Freshman LenDale White, who scored twice against Hawaii and once against Cal, has displayed the most powerful running style to date. Carroll said he would like to see White be “a big factor for us,” but White said he had not been told that he would have a larger role this week.

“Everybody looks forward to the day when they get a chance to prove who they are and prove what they can do,” White said. “If they give me the ball, I hope I can make the right reads and right cuts to help the team win.”

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After getting limited work early in the week because of a groin strain, starting quarterback Matt Leinart took the majority of snaps and proclaimed himself fit to play against Arizona State.

“I feel a lot better than I did [Wednesday],” Leinart said. “I got a lot of extra work. It was good to get all those reps.”

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Freshman tailback Reggie Bush is still the first kickoff return specialist, but senior flanker Keary Colbert got extended work Thursday and could be used against Arizona State, Carroll said.... Though Greig Carlson handled punt returns against Cal, Carroll said sophomore Justin Wyatt is still first on the depth chart.