Blast from the Past - USC Pros

It was great to see Matt Leinart slinging the rock like we know he can last Friday night. While Matt & the Arizona Cardinals lost in a shootout with the Green Bay Packers, the former Heisman Trophy winner threw for 360 yards & 3 TDs (all in the 4th quarter) in his attempted comeback. It is hard to argue against starting former 2-time MVP and Super Bowl MVP QB Kurt Warner, but Leinart showed everybody why he is a top back-up QB and worthy of a starting job.

Matt was not the only former USC Trojan and Pac-10 Pro in the game. The Packers were led by former Cal-Berkeley Bears QB Aaron Rodgers. He threw for 258 yards & 3 TDs with a ridiculous 155.2 QB Rating and an uncanny 39 yards rushing.

Another former Trojan was out there making plays (or play I should say) as TE Dominique Byrd hauled in one pass for 45 yards.

Final Score: Green Bay Packers 44 @ Arizona Cardinals 37

Here is a quick recap of a few other notable performances by former USC Trojans in the second to last week of Pre-Season NFL Football...

New York Jets 27 @ New York Giants 25

QB Mark Sanchez led the Jets in the battle of the Big Apple in their first win of the pre-season. Sanchez threw for 149 yards & 1 TD with a 65% completion percentage. On the other side of the field, WR Steve Smith grabbed one pass for 12 yards and barely missed on a long ball, which definitely would have resulted in a TD and been shown over-and-over on SportsCenter. Giants CB Terrell Thomas racked up 4 tackles as he continues to be extremely impressive ever since being thrust into a starting role as a rookie last season.

Jacksonville Jaguars 32 @ Philadelphia Eagles 33

For the Jags, RB Chauncey Washington ran for 25 yards on 9 carries and caught 2 passes for 14 yards, while LB Thomas Williams recorded 3 tackles. DT Mike Patterson had 2 tackles, including his first sack of the pre-season.

St. Louis Rams 24 @ Cincinnati Bengals 21

The Bengals were flaunting their Trojan LBs as Rey Maualuga had a coming out part of sorts recording 8 tackles and Keith Rivers nabbed 4 of his own.

*****

Pac-10 football kicks off this week with the College Football headliner game of #16 Oregon @ #14 Boise State. On Saturday, #4 USC welcomes San Jose State to the Coliseum in an extremely rare "easy" game.

Go Trojans & Pac-10!