Earlier this summer, Clay Helton had an idea. He left the McKay Center and headed across the campus common area toward Heritage Hall, looking for a sounding board.
Helton’s thoughts spilled out. The last few years, Helton said, had been too much about Clay Helton. They had been too much about the team’s known stars, like Sam Darnold and Ronald Jones, who were now off to the NFL. This year’s Trojans were going to be different. The seniors were freshmen when Helton took over for Steve Sarkisian midseason in 2015, and, over three years, they became talented veterans who somehow were still mostly undiscovered.