Rule #28: It's never too early to name someone the next *insert legend here*

The day couldn't have been more perfect.

Tailgating in the Coliseum parking lot, beyond picturesque California weather and, most importantly, Trojan football.

In his short tenure as head coach, Lane Kiffin has made his presence known with closed practices, a more disciplined environment and take-no-prisoners, brutal honesty towards the attitudes and performance of his players. His effect on the Trojan Huddle was no less visible.

The most noticeable change was the make up of the cardinal and white teams. This year it wasn't the 1st team in one color against the 2nd team in another. Instead the teams were divided into defense and offense, with the offense in white and the defense in cardinal. The scrimmage also featured a modified scoring system which awarded points to the defense for making stops, forcing turnovers and scoring defensive touchdowns.

Fans were also treated to the return of noticeable half-time adjustments, which felt few and far between during the last couple of seasons. In typical Kiffin fashion, after a lackluster first half the head coach told his offensive players to "take their scholarship checks and give them back to the fans that came out today because that was an embarrassing performance."

The offense responded with six touchdowns in the second half and ultimately won the day 54-30.

Things we learned (that we may have known already):

• Stanley Havili is a weapon that must be utilized if the Trojans hope to be successful on offense this year: The senior fullback had three touchdowns and 129 yards receiving on five catches. He looked about as dominant in the passing game as his stats suggest. Most troubling is that he also looked about as dominant as he has throughout his career in the rare times he's been involved in the offense. Without a doubt he has been the most underutilized Trojan of the last decade. Hopefully this is a sign that's about to change.
• This defensive line will be a dominant squad: Similar things were said about last years line, things that never seemed to pan out. However, with Ed Orgeron at the helm it doesn't just feel like the right thing to say, but not saying it seems crazy. Nick Perry had five tackles and a sack, while the line as a whole consistently stuffed the running game and got pressure on the quarterback.
• The offensive line needs work: As good as the defensive line looks, some of that dominance has to be attributed to the struggles of the offensive line. To be fair, the line is stretched thin with injuries so it shouldn't be a surprise that they aren't dominating. Still, too often today the defensive made it through the line like there was nothing there.

Things we learned (that we may not have known):

• Dillion Baxter is...WOW: The world saw what he could do in this youtube sensation, but that was just one run and as impressive as it was, it could be easily written off as a great athlete facing walk-ons. Not. Any. More. If there were any doubts of the incredible talent of this freshman running back/wide receiver, there are none now. Not after his electrifying 13 carry, 129 yard performance (and how great is this quote from Lane Kiffin on Baxter's 57-yard fourth down run?). I'm going to say it now, Dillion Baxter will not only be a household name by the time he leaves USC, but his jersey will sit next to Reggie Bush's on the Coliseum peristyle.
• Mitch Mustain may have benefited the most from Kiffin's return...and he'll probably have little to show for it: The back up quarterback was the star of the scrimmage throwing for 299 yards and five touchdowns and once again outplayed his younger counterpart, Matt Barkley. Unfortunately for Mustain it seems it would take wither an injury or a meltdown of epic proportions for Barkley to lose the starting job. However, it is becoming more and more clear that Mustain has elevated his game since Kiffin came to town. Considering what Kiffin did turning Tennessee's Jonathon Crompton into a draft-able quarterback, it isn't all that surprising that Mustain would also show such marked improvement. He may not win the starting job, but this can only be good for Mustain's draft stock a la Matt Cassel.
• Travon Patterson may have arrived: The senior caught 5 passes for 101 yards and 2 (beautiful) touchdowns and clearly had the best showing of the receivers. It was just one game and Ronald Johnson and Brice Butler look firmly entrenched in their spots on the depth chart, but if Patterson keeps this up he should have no trouble finding playing time this year.

Things we didn't learn (or questions that weren't answered):

• How will the secondary fair without Taylor Mays and company?: When a quarterback throws for five touchdowns it can't be a good sign for the secondary, can it? The fact that Havili's three touchdowns were born out of mismatches that most teams can't deal with anyway eases some of the concern, but the secondary got burned on several other passes. 
• How improved will the sophomore Matt Barkley be over the freshman version?: He didn't do much early, but then again no one on offense did. And his best play, a 41-yard touchdown to Travon Patterson, also marked the end of his day as a hand injury kept him out of the game. Would he have dominated like Mustain if give more snaps? Who knows. At least he didn't throw any interceptions.
• Galippo or Kennard? Kennard or Galippo?: The middle linebacker battle has been one of the more intriguing of the spring, but the depth chart still reads OR between them. Galippo had three tackles to Kennard's two, still it seems neither did enough today to take hold of the starting job before the Fall.