For the roster impaired, that's David Kirtman, who's only been in the program for six or seven years. Well, only five, but it seems as if he's been toiling out there on the practice field anonymously for that long.
It's just that attitude that has helped him become USC's starting fullback the last two years. And now that he has some numbers to go with the position -- he's USC's fourth-leading receiver this season with 12 catches for 169 yards and a touchdown -- he's got some showing off to do.
When No. 1 USC (6-0) takes on Washington (1-5) in Seattle Saturday, Kirtman will be playing in front of a home crowd. He played his high school ball at Mercer Island High, where he rushed for 2,691 yards and scored 36 touchdowns in his final two seasons.
It will be his second and final trip to Husky Stadium as a player, and he admits that though the Trojans are taught to treat each game as the same, this one will be different.
"It definitely is, because the last time (in 2003) I was just doing special teams and got some garbage time and I didn't really show what I was made of,'' Kirtman said. "I feel like this time I get a chance to show my friends live. Not many of my friends have seen me play live.
"We treat every game the same, but just for me being able to go home to my hometown is fun. It's only the second time I've ever done that, so I'm looking forward to it.
While it's rare for a player from Washington to leave the state to play in Southern California, Kirtman jumped at the first chance he got. In April of his junior year, he was offered a scholarship and committed to the Trojans a week later.
Even if he was a neighbor of Seattle Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren and lived in the same community as Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, he would have wanted to leave home for one overriding reason.
"The weather is too much for me,'' he said of the rainy Northwest. He doesn't regret his choice of not waiting for the Huskies to recruit him.
Kirtman, the son of a retired Levi Strauss executive (and California grad), grew up in San Rafael until he was in sixth grade. His brother Michael played football at Pomona-Pitzer, so that was another reason to come south.
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