Warning: Out of fairness (in an article about fairness) it should be noted that I loathe the USC Trojans and all things Southern California (LA, Hollywood, tourists, etc.).

The USC Trojans are in the news again, but not for dominating the football field or basketball court like they’d hoped.

The owner of the SUV that USC Trojans running back Joe McKnight has been seen driving says it was bought for the junior’s girlfriend as a favor.

In e-mails to the Los Angeles Times and Los Angeles Daily News, Scott Schenter, a Santa Monica, Calif., businessman, said the car is driven by Johana Michelle Beltran — McKnight’s girlfriend — and that he helped purchase the Land Rover because Beltran’s family had trouble qualifying for a loan.

That reminds me, what ever happened to that whole Reggie Bush thing? The NCAA says they’re still investigating it, but I believe that for about 0.42 seconds. USC is USC and that’s that. They have an enormous fan base and are a great television market. The NCAA doesn’t want to touch that beast.

Say what you will about schools with similarly large fan bases (some gauging quite high on douchebag-radar) like Ohio State, but when their players break the rules, they suspend them. In fact, Ray Small and Robert Rose broke team rules (which team rule is still unknown) and Buckeye Coach Tressel is benching their misbehaving arses. Tressel has a good eye on his players and seems to expect everyone (regardless of starter or bench player status) to obey the team rules.

The Trojans’ Coach Carol? He seems to care about following the rules as much as a hardcore gamer with a book of codes.

Of course McKnight says he didn’t drive it and I’m sure Carol will come out soon enough with a politician-esque speech to diverge attention back to the game, but hopefully after the Reggie Bush and O.J. Mayo embarrassment, this will be strike three.

[via ESPN]