Lane Kiffin and USC Feel "Normal" Again After Open-to-the-Public Scrimmage

Normal is a relative term, but it has certainly been anything but normal for the Trojans since July 2010.

It was the infractions report heard around the world and nothing has felt the same since. Lane Kiffin and Pat Haden have spent the past year-and-a-half looking over their shoulder, triple-checking every word they say.

Security at Howard Jones practice field has rivaled that of the White House.

But Saturday felt normal. USC practiced and scrimmaged in the Coliseum like they do every Saturday during the spring, but the public was allowed to attend.

For free.

The annual “Spring Game” usually requires a fairly inexpensive ticket purchase, but that is scheduled for April 14. It is a much more formal event with autograph signings and a bouncy house for the little ones. Last Saturday was a break from the normal confines of probation that usually allow only pre-approved media and family (complete with laminated credentials that must be worn at all times) to attend a regular practice.

Probation—and all the restrictions that come with—runs through the 2013 season. The sidelines at the Coliseum will still be void of celebrities come September. The media will still have to fill out an extensive set of paperwork, assuring the compliance office that they are neither an agent nor a booster.

But for a moment, Kiffin was excited for “a chance to be normal.”

He remembers the days when anyone with a valid I.D. could walk into practice and observe his All-American players and Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks training for a Rose Bowl or National Championship. Back when he was a passing game coordinator. Back when Pete Carroll ran the show and everyone thought that nothing could touch USC.

Back when greatness was normal and no one cared about anything else.

And maybe that’s why USC is what it is today. No cared enough to check if anything else was going on. No one had a reason to think something terrible could happen.

But it did. And here they are.

The Trojans are happy that their friends and classmates can come watch them play without purchasing overpriced season tickets (because those are not included in the price of tuition). They are happy that their girlfriends can cheer them on. They are happy about all the things that their predecessors took for granted because it was part of their normal routine.

The scrimmage wasn’t special in the football sense of the term. Most of it was devoted to see whether redshirt freshman quarterbacks Max Wittek or Cody Kessler could handle backing up Heisman front runner Matt Barkley.

Tre Madden continued to adjust to his new role at running back.

Injured players rehabbed on the side.

And that was the beauty of it. For once, USC was not a struggling spectacle.

They are having a spring ball like any other top-ranked school. They are training younger players and taking special care of their veterans. They all look good. They all look like they are improving.

And someone besides the coaches and a few select media members got to see it for once.