Game is a big draw for recruits

Carrying three soft drinks in a cardboard container, Aaron Corp hardly stood out as he walked through Tunnel 23 at halftime of a sold-out Coliseum on Saturday night, taking a break from the noise and excitement of USC’s 44-24 victory over Notre Dame.

Two USC fans recognized Corp as no ordinary teenager and asked if they could take a photo of him.

Corp, the senior quarterback at Orange Lutheran who has committed to the Trojans, graciously stood in the tunnel holding his soft drinks posing with the fans.

“That was interesting,” Corp said.

There were dozens of invited high school prospects coming and going through Tunnel 23, and fans who spend hours trying to keep up with college recruiting on Internet sites such as wearesc.com and irishillustrated.com would have had no problem identifying the biggest names.

USC recruiting coordinator Lane Kiffin said close to 100 local prospects from all grades were given tickets to the game, with six national prospects making official visits.

Corp was trying to boost the chances of USC’s landing defensive end Everson Griffen, a 6-foot-3, 265-pound senior from Avondale, Ariz., who’s also scheduled to visit UCLA next weekend.

Another recruit in attendance was Marvin Austin, a defensive tackle from Washington, D.C., who’s rated among the top prospects in the nation. And there was offensive lineman Kristofer O’Dowd, who’s 6-5, 320 pounds and the No. 1 lineman from Tucson.

USC turned on the charm and took advantage of the opportunity to show off its big-game atmosphere, letting prospects go onto the field before the game and directing them into the locker room afterward. There was USC Coach Pete Carroll putting his arm around Martez Wilson, a defensive end from Chicago, 45 minutes before the game.

As O’Dowd walked through the tunnel leading to the Trojans’ locker room afterward, a USC fan shouted, “Sign with SC.”

“It’s a great atmosphere to be around and would be a fun place to be,” O’Dowd said. “It definitely impressed me. The team is quite unique. They all rally around each other. They’re a family.”

Other out-of-state prospects in attendance were Terrance Toliver, a receiver from Hempstead, Texas, and James Wilson, an offensive lineman from St. Augustine, Fla.

Bryshon Nellum, a track and receiver standout from Long Beach Poly, sat in the locker room wearing a USC ski cap. Nellum signed with USC during the early signing period this month, only to have the letter voided when USC discovered it had given him wrong information about whether he’d be eligible to play football in the fall.

Nellum said he’s still interested in USC and could sign in February or April.

Dayne Crist, a junior quarterback at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, was on the field before the game as USC’s seniors were introduced.

“It’s fun,” he said. “It’s exciting.

“You get the vibe of the school, kind of what goes on behind the scenes.”

Corp had attended several USC games this season, but he said, “It’s a lot crazier. This is probably the most exciting game I’ve been to.”

No one seemed busier in the locker room than Kiffin, who was trying to keep track of his many recruits while instructing assistants to devote special attention to others.

“It was a great weekend,” Kiffin said.

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eric.sondheimer@latimes.com