
USC redshirt freshman Elijah Newby discusses switching from linebacker to defensive end
In 2025, Newby will look to play a bigger role for USC. However, he will be doing so at a new position, having made the switch from linebacker to defensive line during the offseason.
In a recent podcast interview with Ryan Abraham and Connor Morrissette of 247Sports, Newby discussed the decision to switch positions.
"Nothing is really gonna be handed to you in life," Newby said. "Especially on this football level. So being able to be selfless and put something bigger than me out there, and help in a[n] aspect that I wouldn't even think I would be helping in, I'm always down for.
"If that's changing positions, being that motivator on the sideline, it's whatever. I think that transition was a great transition."
USC fans will certainly appreciate Newby's team-first mindset. It will be interesting to see what impact he can make at his new position this fall.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


USA Today
2 hours ago
- USA Today
USC football countdown to kickoff—Marcus Allen in focus
The countdown to USC's 2025 football season is officially on! The Trojans kick off their new campaign 33 days from today. You need something to help you while away the days and hours in the spring and summer. This is one way to do so. In this new series, countdown to kickoff, we will be counting down the days by highlighting a notable Trojan who wore each number. Today, we look at the first Heisman winner on the list—USC Heisman Trophy running back Marcus Allen. Position: Running back Years played at USC: 1978-1981 Career highlights: Allen did not start at running back for USC his first two years, because the Trojans had another Heisman winner in the backfield: the late, great Charles White. After winning a national championship as a freshman backup in 1978, Allen started at fullback in 1979. Following the graduation of White, Allen took over as USC's featured back in 1980. After rushing for more than 1,500 yards that season, he shattered the record book as a senior in 1981. That year, Allen became the first player in college football history to rush for over 2,000 yards in a season, carrying the ball 403 times for an incredible 2,342 yards and 22 touchdowns. He was named a Unanimous All-American and won just about every award that he was eligible for, including the Heisman Trophy, becoming the fourth USC running back to take home the honor. Allen's retired jersey No. 33 hangs in the Peristyle at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2000. After USC: Allen did not have to move very far after graduating, as the newly-moved Los Angeles Raiders selected him with the 10th overall pick in the 1982 NFL Draft. Playing his home games in the Coliseum, just as he did in college, Allen quickly became a star for L.A. In eleven seasons with the team, he was named to five Pro Bowls, made first-team All-Pro twice, made second-team All-Pro once, won MVP, offensive player of the year, offensive rookie of the year, and Super Bowl MVP, leading the Raiders to a victory in Super Bowl XVII. Allen spent the final five years of his career with the Kansas City Chiefs, making another Pro Bowl and winning comeback player of the year in 1993. Allen was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2003. He is the only player in football history to win a college football national championship, the Heisman Trophy, a Super Bowl, NFL MVP, Super Bowl MVP, and be named a Unanimous All-American.


USA Today
2 hours ago
- USA Today
USC offensive lineman DJ Wingfield files lawsuit against NCAA over eligibility issue
A few weeks ago, it was revealed that USC offensive lineman DJ Wingfield still has not yet been ruled eligible for the 2025 season. Now, it appears Wingfield is taking the NCAA to court. On Monday, it was reported that Wingfield has filed a lawsuit against the NCAA. The amount in the suit is reportedly $210,000, which is what USC had offered him to play the 2025 season. "Wingfield's collegiate career began in 2019 at El Camino College, a junior college in Torrance," Ryan Kartje of The Los Angeles Times wrote. "He left El Camino during the 2020 season due to the pandemic, as Wingfield was tasked with taking care of his mother. "He played at El Camino in 2021 before transferring to New Mexico in the spring of 2022. Before completing a single game with the Lobos, he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee, ending his season. He returned to play in nine games in 2023 before entering the transfer portal. "Wingfield transferred to Purdue where he earned a starting job in 2024, five years after he first started his college football career." Wingfield's assumption that he would be able to play another year of college football in 2025 was presumably based on Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia's successful lawsuit against the NCAA last fall, in which a court ruled that years spent at the junior college level do not count towards a player's NCAA eligibility. USC cornerback DeCarlos Nicholson took advantage of the ruling to return to the Trojans in 2025. To date, however, Wingfield's eligibility waiver has yet to be granted. "Wingfield is seeking to challenge the lawfulness of the NCAA's 'Five-Year Rule', which contends that players are eligible to play four seasons of competition across five years," Kartje wrote. "Both USC and Wingfield believed, according to the complaint, that his waiver would be approved, considering recent rulings in the cases of Vanderbilt's Diego Pavia and Rutgers' Jett Elad, each of whom won the right in court to play an additional season. "But the waiver was denied, robbing Wingfield, he claims, of what could have been a 'once-in-a-lifetime' NIL payday as well as an opportunity to 'enhance his career and reputation' by playing at USC." Losing a potential starter on the offensive line prior to the start of the season would be a brutal blow for the Trojans. USC will certainly be pulling hard for Wingfield in his legal fight with the NCAA.


USA Today
3 hours ago
- USA Today
Elijah Paige hopes to take on leadership role for USC's offensive line in 2025
For seemingly quite some time now, USC football has gone into each season with one or more established veteran leaders on the offensive line. From Alijah Vera-Tucker, to Andrew Vorhees, to Brett Neilon, to Justin Dedich, to Jonah Monheim, the Trojans have seemingly always had a guy who has been around for four or more years and gone through the ups and downs with the program. This season, USC's o-line does not have that established veteran presence, meaning that the Trojans will be forced to turn to a new generation of leaders. One player who has been looking to step into a leadership role in 2025 is redshirt sophomore offensive tackle Elijah Paige. Representing USC at Big Ten media days in Las Vegas last week, Paige spoke about trying to take on a leadership role on the Trojans' offensive line in 2025. "Teaching [the young guys] everything that I know, the moments that I had that were the 'low points of the season,'" Paige said, via 247Sports. "Teaching them and guiding them so that they don't have to go through the same things that I went through. Telling them everything that I know, playing in different environments, playing against different players, how to go against different pass rushers, just giving them everything that I have, and obviously they know a ton too. They learn the same things that I learned. So yeah, we're just kind of a team. "We've gone through it. We know what it feels like. Obviously, you never want to lose a game, but we've learned a ton from it. Our team's learned a ton. We've learned personally a ton about ourselves, and we're just excited to go out there this fall and play." As a redshirt freshman starting at left tackle last season, Paige was named All-Big Ten honorable mention. Now entering his second season as a starter for the Trojans, Paige will look to develop into one of the top offensive linemen in the conference.