LA Daily Breeze: College Football Notebook: USC's Maualuga finds Excuse to Play after Assault

By Phil Collin and Jim Thomas
With his voice cracking with emotion, USC freshman linebacker Rey Maualuga on Wednesday recounted his quick trip home to visit with his father, who is stricken with cancer. Maualuga, who had flown to Eureka on Monday night after a plea from his family, was back on the practice field and is expected to play Saturday when the No. 1 Trojans take on California in Berkeley. "My dad got another tumor in his chest that's blocking the blood flow to his brain that they just found on Monday," Maualuga said. "So my dad is battling that, his face is all swollen, he can't talk.
"But (Wednesday) morning before I left, I went up to my dad and said, 'Dad I'm leaving.' And he told me, 'Son, I'm going with you.' " Talatonu Maualuga had made a splash on national television the day he announced his decision to attend USC. "My father's my motivation," Maualuga said. "I'm using this toward my football, not against it. ... I'm going to play for him. I came down because his dream was that I go to 'SC and play, get that starting spot and I'm here and working my butt off.
"I could have stayed a little longer but my mom had told me, 'Just come. I just want you to talk to dad, see dad before something terrible happens.' I took care of that and I felt it was time to come back. "If it gets worse, I'll definitely go back. As of now, I'm just practicing, focusing on football." His visit began less than a week after Maualuga, 18, was arrested on an assault charge following an off-campus party early on Nov. 1. Maualuga practiced at middle linebacker Wednesday with the first unit. The regular starter, Oscar Lua, has been sidelined this week by a sprained knee and won't begin participating in drills until today. If Lua can't play, Thomas Williams would start at the position and be backed up by Maualuga.
"He'll play for sure," Carroll said of Maualuga. "He won't start in this game.
"There's not much he can do right now. He's torn on how to handle this, but he needed to get back down here for now and be ready to go back when he has to."