Secondary Starting to Feel the Pain of Injuries

Preliminary tests on Ifeanyi Ohalete suggest the senior safety may have a stress fracture in his lower leg or ankle. At the very least, that rules Ohalete out of Saturday’s homecoming game against California and probably the following game at Arizona State, Coach Paul Hackett said.

The Trojans’ patchwork secondary also expects to be without cornerback Darrell Rideaux, who was walking around practice Wednesday with a protective boot on the foot he injured at Stanford.

Cornerback Kris Richard, however, hopes to return to the starting lineup on Saturday. Kevin Arbet and Chris Cash are also available at the corners.

“We’ll just have to play whoever is healthy,� safety Frank Strong said. “It doesn’t matter whether they are 90% healthy or 85% healthy, they’ve got to play.�

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Ohalete’s injury also affects special teams because he is the holder on field goals and extra points. Even if his stress fracture is confirmed--further tests were conducted Wednesday--he may be able to continue those duties.

“I have to ask the doctors,� Hackett said. “I certainly hope so.�

In the meantime, USC practiced without backup holders Mike Van Raaphorst, who was in graduate school class, and Matt Nickels, who was suffering from flu.

The Trojans tried David Newbury--their kicker until two weeks ago--at the position.

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In hopes of getting his team to play better, Hackett said he would pit the starting offense against the starting defense more often in practice this week. The change is meant to boost the speed and tempo of drills.

“This is just an ongoing process to improve our basic fundamentals,� he said.

The players were all in favor of adding spice to the daily routine.

“It’s better competition instead of going against the redshirt freshmen and the guys who don’t play as much,� quarterback Carson Palmer said. “We go at it and it’s fun.�

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The Trojans’ game at Arizona State on Nov. 4 will begin at 6 p.m. and is tentatively scheduled for a live broadcast on Fox Sports West.