USC FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK: Freshman receiver Marqise Lee suffers shoulder injury

SAN FRANCISCO – USC wide receiver Marqise Lee enjoyed a big first half with four receptions for 81 yards and a touchdown. But Lee did not play in the second half after he sprained the AC joint in his shoulder while catching a 39-yard touchdown pass.

“I wanted to keep playing but I could barely move my arm,” Lee said. “I landed on it twice. The first play of the game and on the touchdown.

“I’m OK now. I’m pretty sure I’ll be ready for Notre Dame.”

Lee provided the only real spark in the offense in the first half as wide receiver Robert Woods was constantly double-covered and held to 13 yards receiving in the opening two quarters.

But he was critical of his performance. “I had two big drops,” he said.

Tyler injured

Tailback Marc Tyler said he dislocated his shoulder but X-rays were negative. He did not know how long he would be sidelined.

“I’ve never had this before,” Tyler said. “It feels better already though.”

Cornerback Anthony Brown broke his ankle and safety Demetrius Wright bruised his leg.

Farmer’s debut

Freshman tailback George Farmer played his first college game and lost 5 yards on his first carry on USC’s first series. Farmer also caught a 14-yard pass that nearly went for a lot more before he was tripped on the sideline. Farmer fumbled near the end of the game, which is not surprising since he rarely played tailback before Thursday night.

“I was pretty nervous when I saw there was nowhere

to go (on my first carry),” he said. “I thought it was my fault.”

Friendly confines

This was not exactly a hostile environment for the Trojans. The bleachers behind the USC sideline were composed mostly of Trojans fans, and sound inside the baseball stadium was nothing close to most stadiums in the Pac-12.

It looked like USC brought fewer than 10,000 fans to the game, which was not surprising because of the weeknight encounter. This is traditionally the biggest road trip of the year for USC students, but many chose to pass and San Francisco was mostly devoid of Trojans fans on Wednesday night.

Lopsided scores

If USC played Cal every week, Golden Bears coach Jeff Tedford would probably be fired. Since 2009, USC outscored the Bears 82-0 in the first half of the three meetings combined. Tedford has lost eight straight games to USC since his team’s memorable 2003 upset of the Trojans.

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