USC impresses Cushing

Oradell (N.J.) Bergen Catholic linebacker Brian Cushing said that Southern Cal was his leader heading in to his official visit this past weekend. Did anything change?

"No, they're still my favorite, I had a great visit out there," said the 6-foot-4, 230-pounder. "I was hosted by Keith Rivers and the linebacker situation looks pretty good there. They are thinking that me and Rey (Rey Maualuga can come in and compete for the two-deep right away. They lose some key guys."

There were rumors that Cushing committed on his trip. Is that true?

"No, I didn't commit," he said. "I've said all along that I'm going to take my time and wait until Signing Day. I really like USC and my mom loved it, she wants me to go there. My dad wasn't on the visit and he wants me to go to either Boston College or Notre Dame, so we all have some talking to do."

Not before a few more visits however.

"I go to Miami on Friday to Saturday and then go to Florida from Sunday to Monday," he said. "Then that's pretty much it for big travel. I have a visit scheduled with Virginia on Jan. 28 but I'm not sure if I'm going to take it. I might do an unofficial visit to BC that weekend with Jason Gwaltney. I know we're planning on visiting BC sometime."

Cushing spoke with fellow New Jersey native Dwayne Jarrett out at USC about the distance from home.

"He said he was homesick at first, but now he loves it," he said. "It just takes some time to adjust, but winning makes everything better. I didn't get to hand out with Matt Lienhart or Reggie Bush because they weren't around, but I met Dominique Byrd, Lendale White and a bunch of others. They're all good guys."

Cushing plans on making his announcement on ESPNews on Feb. 2.