LOS ANGELES — He hadn’t been home for a week, the campus invites flooding Eli Sanders’ phone as soon as his name dropped in the transfer portal.

First he hopped on a plane to East Lansing, and Michigan State, the very Monday and Tuesday the portal opened. Then came a trip westward, to Arizona, the following Wednesday and Thursday. Friday yo-yoed him back east to Arkansas. Saturday and Sunday was Virginia Tech. All of these programs pitching themselves, across the country, to one of the most productive backs in the portal, the 5-foot-11 Sanders coming off a season in which he rushed for 1,063 yards and nine touchdowns for New Mexico.

And then, on Sunday night, Sanders returned to his hotel in Virginia and checked his phone. There, waiting, was a text from USC running backs coach Anthony Jones. They got on a brief call, Jones inviting the Oceanside native to Southern California for one final visit.

It was over in a matter of days, from there, Jones visiting campus across Monday and Tuesday and officially committing to USC on Wednesday.

“Growing up a USC fan, definitely always wanted to play there, always wanted to at least attend school there,” Sanders, who went to high school in Arizona, told the Southern California News Group on Wednesday. “So, you know, having that opportunity was a dream. And once I got the opportunity, I couldn’t pass it up.”

It’s a much-needed import for USC, after a brutal couple of weeks of departures via the portal. Last week, in a shocking move, standout sophomore back Quinten Joyner transferred, leaving the program barren in the backfield coming off a 6-6 regular season.

With starting back Woody Marks heading to the NFL and Joyner gone, USC desperately needed transfer portal help at running back, sending a slew of offers to portal options. And Sanders brings intriguing upside with true game-changing speed, a back who averaged 7.2 yards per carry in a breakout 2024 season.

Sanders spent three years at Iowa State before transferring to New Mexico, producing one of the more quietly underrated seasons of any running back across the country in 2024.

TE coach Hanson is new O-line coach

The public search for USC’s new offensive line coach lasted less than 24 hours.

It would’ve been easy for Josh Henson’s departure for Purdue — news breaking Wednesday, with Henson telling the team the same day — to throw USC’s future on the offensive line into flux. Henson’s 2024 unit was already losing three starters to the NFL draft or transfer portal; the remaining pieces in the room, from Elijah Paige to Alani Noa to Justin Tauanuu and beyond, were kids Henson had put in years recruiting and developing. If there were ever a time for Lincoln Riley to turn in-house for a coaching promotion, it was here.

And on Wednesday, USC and Riley officially announced the elevation of tight ends coach Zach Hanson to Henson’s vacated role as offensive line coach, a young name who Riley pointed had “extensive experience” in working with groups in the trenches.