Friday’s 90-minute workout, its first practice of an allowed 15 prior to the Rose Bowl, was conducted without QB John David Booty, who banged up his finger in the UCLA game. Booty will also miss today’s (Saturday’s) practice, the team’s final practice before reconvening next Friday, to attend a class field trip.  Other seniors, including LB Keith Rivers (ankle), DE Lawrence Jackson (bruised knee), and RB Chauncey Washington (hip), also did not practice but are expected to rejoin the team on Friday. RB Joe McKnight did not attend to take care of academic issues. Read on for more news from Friday.

• Without Booty hogging any reps, junior-to-be Mark Sanchez, sophomore-to-be Mitch Mustain, and redshirt freshman Aaron Corp all took snaps Friday. Sanchez hooked up with freshman WR Ronald Johnson on a notable deep throw into the corner of the end zone to end practice, after which Pete Carroll noted, “There will be a lot of combinations like that.”
• Sophomore RB Allen Bradford was among a group of tailbacks getting the bulk of reps Friday in anticipation of a major battle for the top spots on the depth chart in the spring. Appearing confident of his chances, Bradford told the OC Register: “I’m not going to say it’s my position. I’m still going to keep working hard, to where they have to give it to me.”
• Senior-to-be LB Kaluka Maiava, who always seemed to make a key tackle when Keith Rivers was out of the game over the last two years, is also using bowl practices to establish himself as the starter next year, but he’ll need to hold off the surprising freshman Malcolm Smith.
• Seniors Sedrick Ellis and Sam Baker awoke at 4:30 a.m. Friday to catch a cross-country flight after an awards show in Florida in order to participate in practice. They were both named members of the Walter Camp All-American team.
• The Trojans will stay in a Santa Monica hotel from Dec 20 - 22 and will practice at the Home Depot Center on those days to break up the monotony of a 3rd consecutive trip to the Rose Bowl. The team also plans to take December 23 off, which likely means that they will only use 14 of their 15 practice days, according to the LA Times.

First Rose Bowl practice is a low-key affair (LA Times)
It’s back to the future (Orange County Register)
USC Football Notebook: All-American Davis savors Mackey Award (Press-Enterprise)