USC kept Matt Leinart, but lost leading Orange Bowl tackler, Lofa Tatupu, to the NFL. That combined with the loss of senior Matt Grootegoed could have

caused a linebacker shortage, if it wasn’t for the fact that Keith Rivers has already seen significant playing time in blowouts, and new 5-star recruit

Rey Maualuga is the #1 on Lemanski Hall’s and Rivals.com’s lists of best inside linebackers. Lemanski Hall says:

Rey

Maualuga just flat out knows how to play football. He’s hard-nosed, tough and aggressive. What impresses me most is his speed and his tackling. Also, when he

sees the play, he reacts with no hesitation. What I like about Rey is that he’s always making plays behind the line of scrimmage.

This

comes as news that 4-star New Jersey linebacker, Brian Cushing, said that Southern Cal was his leader heading in to his official visit this

past weekend.

Maualuga tops Hall’s list of inside LBs [USCfootball.com]