USC Spring Game 2016: Date, Start Time, TV Schedule, Live Stream and More

USC football takes another step toward regaining its past dominance Saturday at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the 2016 iteration of the program's spring game.

There, coach Clay Helton has his work cut out for him, needing to make a decision at quarterback and help smooth the transition to scheme changes on both sides of the football.

It's not an easy task, though returning veterans and spring superstars combine with another strong recruiting class to give Helton and his staff plenty to work with.

Hitting on all the necessary spring-game check boxes, USC's spectacle isn't something to miss.

2016 USC Spring Game

When:  Saturday, April 16, at 12 p.m. ET

Where: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

TV: Pac-12 Network

Live Stream: Pac-12.com

USC faithful will notice the changes right away.

On the offensive side of the ball, the Trojans want to shift toward a more run-first approach, favoring the power game between the hashmarks to set up big plays down the field.

Such a change will help coordinator Tee Martin make a more informed decision about who starts under center. For now, the job seems to belong to Max Browne, though Sam Darnold and Jalen Greene have certainly turned a few heads this spring.

Helton, though, had made it clear to the media he's not seeing much in the way of a difference between Browne and Darnold, so the spring game will make the decision much easier.

“I’m going to let it go to the spring game,” Helton said, according to Scott Wolf, of the Los Angeles Daily News. “I don’t think it’s a huge gap. It will be (announced) shortly after the spring game. I want to take it to the spring game, that atmosphere, and see how the guys react.”

Browne losing the gig to a redshirt freshman would be rather unprecedented, and he seems to have an air of desperation about the situation, as captured by Rivals' Adam Maya:

Technically, neither quarterback should have much of a problem posting strong numbers if the power run works well.

This is especially the case with one of the most eye-popping wideout depth charts around, headlined by JuJu Smith-Schuster, Steven Mitchell Jr. and Darreus Rogers with a dash of Adoree' Jackson.

The defensive side of the football underwent the biggest change of all this spring. Under the guidance of returning coordinator Clancy Pendergast, the Trojans will continue to trend toward a more attacking defense as opposed to the read-and-react versions of the past.

Anyone familiar with the Trojans knows the problem, though, as the defensive trenches has taken hit after hit this spring. Defensive end Scott Felix lost an appeal and defensive tackle Kenny Bigelow went down with a knee injury, leaving inexperienced guys to get thrown to the wolves against a more experienced offensive counterpart Saturday.

"Have they progressed this camp?" Helton said, according to Zach Helfand of the Los Angeles Times. "Yes they have. Are they anywhere close to being ready? No they're not. Thank God we've got 29 more practices after Saturday to get ready for Alabama."

Call it the perfect testing ground. And behind the line there has been good news, with a star seeming to emerge, as Fox Sports' Bruce Feldman explained:

Saturday is the first real taste of how the Trojans continue to progress as a program.

A normal USC spring game offers plenty of pressure and expectations. This one, though, isn't any normal event, not with dramatic changes on both sides of the football and everyone rather open about how undecided some of the most important positions on the roster remain.

A program changing its identity in the hopes of a better future, USC takes the field Saturday hoping to grow. The Trojans better—Alabama awaits.

Stats and info courtesy of ESPN.com unless otherwise specified.