Soward Is Treated and Released

USC receiver R. Jay Soward was treated and released from a Tucson hospital Saturday after undergoing precautionary tests after suffering a concussion during the Trojans’ loss to Arizona.

Soward flew home later Saturday night with his father and a USC trainer.

Soward is expected to play against Notre Dame this week, but is officially listed as “possible” and his condition will be monitored.

Linebacker Zeke Moreno’s shoulder is sore, but he should be fine after continuing to play despite the injury.

Starting offensive guard Jason Grain is doubtful because of a sprained knee, and Zach Wilson is expected to replace him. Starting tackle Brent McCaffrey is listed as possible because of knee and ankle injuries, with Trevor Roberts and Matt Welch the backups at his position.

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USC said goodbye to its Rose Bowl hopes Saturday, and one reason--not to take any blame away from the woeful performance by the offensive line--was Arizona’s bye week.

The Wildcats didn’t play the week before, and the Arizona coaching staff used the extra time to outfox USC.

Even though USC coaches heard rumors about some changes--Keith Smith starting at quarterback and receiver Dennis Northcutt moonlighting on defense--the Trojans were unprepared for much of what they saw.

“They did a great job using their bye week to come up with some five-wides [five receiver sets], and I think that hurt us early,” USC Coach Paul Hackett said.

Meanwhile, Arizona turned a rushing defense that ranked last in the Pacific 10 into one that held USC to minus-20 yards on the ground.

“I’ve got to look at the tape and figure it out because if you try to figure out from the sideline you’re not going to have much luck,” Hackett said. “That was a totally different run defense team than we’ve been looking at on tape.”