Pete Carroll and his staff would never say it publicly, but it has become as clear as another rushed pass on Howard Jones Field.

Quarterback Mitch Mustain has been one of the biggest disappointments of the summer.

When starter Mark Sanchez went down with a dislocated kneecap 10 days ago, it was the perfect opportunity for Mustain, the much-hyped transfer from Arkansas. Playing for the scout team last year when he was still ineligible to be on the varsity roster, Mustain had demonstrated a strong, accurate arm and the kind of talent that made him almost a daily topic of discussion on the Trojans' practice field.

A large segment of USC supporters were of the opinion he would beat out Sanchez for the job when the competition opened in the spring.

But it didn't happen. He didn't play poorly. In fact, there were days when he appeared to be clearly the superior quarterback. But Carroll and his assistants preferred Sanchez's experience and basically made it his job to lose. He never did.

Then, less than two weeks into what they call fall camp, fate seemed to slip into the Trojans' huddle. Sanchez was injured in a freak mishap warming up, and Mustain had the chance he'd been waiting for, the shot to take over as the No. 1 quarterback at USC and maybe start in the opener Aug. 30 at Virginia.

Only instead of being aggressive and taking control, he seemed to back off, appearing tentative and unsure of himself. In the first of three scheduled preseason scrimmages at the Coliseum, Mustain was outplayed by Aaron Corp, the redshirt freshman who had been the star of the spring game. Some said it was because Corp was playing with the first-team offense for most of the scrimmage and that things would change in the second scrimmage.

Except that wasn't really the case. Most observers rated Mustain and Corp even in scrimmage No. 2, although some felt Corp had come out slightly ahead again.

Carroll hasn't said anything officially, but in practices this week, Corp, the more mobile of the two, has appeared with the first-team offense more often than Mustain. That is not a good sign for the Arkansas transfer.

The head coach has been careful to say the "issue isn't settled yet." But even that quote doesn't bode well for Mustain, who was expected to immediately seize the opportunity after Sanchez went down and stamp the position as his.

In the meantime, Sanchez is making what seems to be a quick recovery, and the coaches are now talking as if there is a chance he'll be in the line-up at Virginia. He might, but he also admits to still feeling pain around the knee, which continues to have some swelling.

Unless the pain and swelling are both gone by early next week, Carroll would be foolish to risk what could turn into a season-ending injury by playing Sanchez in the opener. The idea would be to give him an additional two weeks to fully heal and be ready for the biggest regular-season game on the schedule, Sept. 13 against Ohio State.

But that also would mean Carroll would have to pick between Mustain and Corp as his starter at Virginia. Whomever he chooses, don't look for the Trojans to feature a wide-open passing attack. Not after what he has seen this summer.

If Carroll has to play with a quarterback who never has started a game at USC, he is more likely to go conservative, the way he did at Oregon last season when Sanchez was forced to start for the injured John David Booty.

The coach is apt to keep the offense simple, trying to win the game with a defense regarded among the finest in the country, hoping a few turnovers, an assortment of short, safe passes and some strong running from Stafon Johnson and others would be enough to come away with a victory.

It wouldn't have been that way if Mustain had risen to the challenge the way many expected he would.

But he hasn't, and despite any public denials you might hear to the contrary, that remains the single, biggest disappointment of the summer so far at USC.

They're only Tuesday's opinions, but at least they're all mine:

Acquiring Greg Maddux is a smart move by the Dodgers, who had to fill the hole in their rotation left by injured Brad Penny. Maddux is more inconsistent nowadays, but he's still a future Hall of Famer who knows how to win. He'll give Joe Torre six solid innings on most nights . . .

The Angels, with a huge lead in the A.L. West, have said they are aware of the dangers of complacency, but they've definitely looked lethargic in the past week. Someone needs to remind them the team with the best record gets home field advantage in the playoffs. The way they've struggled so far in Tampa, that could be huge . . .

The play that killed Mike Scisocia's team last night was a simple single that rolled under Vlad Guerrero's glove in right field for a two-base error. As always, Vlad giveth, and he taketh away . . .

Olympics TV alert: Gymnast Shawn Johnson winning the gold medal on the balance beam should be worth watching tonight. If NBC puts it on sometime before midnight, that is . . .

Sounds as if the Colts' Peyton Manning and the Pats' Tom Brady both could be less than 100 per cent heading into the NFL's regular season. Maybe this really is the Chargers' year in the AFC, after all . . .

The most underrated player in the American League is Seattle's low-profile outfielder, Raul Ibanez. All he does is get big clutch hits . . .

UCLA names Kevin Craft its starting quarterback, and the surprise there is that the Bruins have identified their starter at the position before USC has . . .

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