On one hand there’s national fame, fortune and potential millions. On the other hand there’s potential pain, injury and no money what-so-ever. Which hand would you choose? The answer seems obvious. We’re talking about the NFL vs NCAA. And when it comes to the draft, nobody churns out professional playmakers like USC. The Trojan players know they’re high in demand. They are aware that there are fat contracts just waiting for their John Hancock. Yet despite the allure of the NFL lifestyle, numerous Trojans have decided to forgo the draft and return to USC for their senior seasons. They would rather risk it all, chance slipping in the draft, chance losing the money, chance a career ending injury, just to play one more time in cardinal and gold.

Players like Sam Baker, Lawrence Jackson, Sedrick Ellis, John David Booty, Keith Rivers and Terrell Thomas have pro scouts drooling. They all could have entered this past draft, and all would have done very well. But they stuck it out with the Trojans for one last ‘hoorah’. That’s because, according to Dan Weber of The Press-Enterprise, these seniors have some unfinished business.

“We had some unfinished business,” said Chino’s Sedrick Ellis, the 310-pound nose tackle on most preseason All-America first teams and the Pac-10’s top defensive lineman a year ago.

“We didn’t end last season the way we wanted to,” Ellis said of the 13-9 upset loss to UCLA that kept the Trojans out of the BCS title game, sending them to the Rose Bowl for a 35-18 win over Michigan. “We want to see if we can win the national championship.”

The seniors are more than just championship-thirsy players. They are Trojan team leaders. They are showing up and stepping up. This show of leadership has strength and conditioning coach, Chris Carlisle, pumped up.

“It’s been impressive the way they’ve taken over,” Carlisle said following Friday’s early morning workout. “That’s what you look for in each succeeding team — who steps up to those leadership roles.”

Will the Trojans win the National Championship in Louisiana? We’re only five months away from knowing for sure. I can tell you these USC seniors want it bad. They are hungry for it. And I can tell you I damn sure wouldn’t want to find myself on the other side of Sedrick Ellis while I’m holding a football. No way. I wouldn’t even hold a cantelope (or any other football sized fruit for that matter) around the man. I prefer to err on the side of caution…

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