The Trojans will participate in a closed scrimmage today, Sunday, before taking a three day break and kicking off a 3-day set of practices at the Home Depot Center starting Thursday. (Practice will then resume December 26 with six straight practices leading up to the Rose Bowl game.) Rather than focusing on the game plan for Illinois, Sunday’s scrimmage will be about “getting ready to play football,” according to coach Pete Carroll, who singled out several players who will be watched closely, including WR Brandon Carswell, TE Rhett Ellison, and WR Damian Williams. (As noted earlier, transfers Williams, QB Mich Mustain, and K Jordon Congdon will not be able to practice beyond Sunday or play in the Rose Bowl due to NCAA rules.) Carroll added that Sunday will be meaningful for sophomores Will Harris (safety) and Charles Brown (OT), and that no one will benefit more Sunday than “all the young offensive linemen, singling out Brown, Alex Parsons, Kris O’Dowd, and Zack Heberer. Read on for more notes from Saturday.

• Scott Wolf notes that USC’s biggest goal offensively is to learn its game plan well enough to play with a fast tempo in the Rose Bowl.
• Despite the increasing popularity of the spread-option offense in college football, Steve Sarkisian singled out the rash of injuries to quarterbacks running the system as the reason USC would likely never employ it: “The quarterback takes a pounding,” the coach added. The only current USC quarterback who could run it effectively would be Aaron Corp, who, not coincidentally, will play the part of Illinois’ speedy QB Juice Williams on USC’s service team beginning next week. Corp, who has reportedly added about 15 pounds to his 6′3″ frame this season and will get his first real chance to make an impression on coaches since training camp, won’t be wearing a “yellow shirt” in the upcoming bowl practices, meaning he can be tackled.
• Junior WR Patrick Turner confirmed, to no one’s surprise, that he will return for his final season.
• Contrary to a report by The Sporting News, citing a “source close” to the offensive coordinator, Steve Sarkisian reiterated Saturday that he has had no contact with Michigan regarding their head coaching vacancy.
• John David Booty threw much better Saturday than he did Friday (working off the rust of a 2 week hiatus), but his broken finger is still not 100% nearly three months after suffering the break against Stanford.
• LB Keith Rivers (ankle) said he will try to practice next week and intends to play on Jan 1. RB Chauncey Washington sat out another day but feels better in terms of his intestinal illness (which is going around the team). Washington will undergo an MRI on his hip in the few days. Stafon Johnson also refrained from practicing today with intestinal issues.
• OG Chilo Rachal injured his knee on Friday, but tests reveal no damage, according to Scott Wolf. Rachal decided not to practice because of soreness in the knee, however. WR David Ausberry sat out with back spasms after “tweaking” his back on Friday.

Insider: Rivers’ recovery (Rivals, $)
Turner hopes his day will come on Jan. 1 (LA Times)
USC’s philosophy: spread out (LA Daily News)
Corp to quarterback Trojans’ service team (Orange County Register)
USC Football Notebook: Spring practice comes early for Trojans (The Press-Enterprise)