Former Springdale High star Mitch Mustain has had a tough time getting on the field at USC, but according to the Los Angeles Times, the former five-star quarterback could have a future as a punter.

  Sound odd? Well, here is what the L.A. Times wrote in today’s paper about Mustain getting work in practice at punter. 

  ”Mitch Mustain might not be able to find his way into the lineup at quarterback, but he could possibly do it as a punter.

  Impressed by kicks Mustain made for fun during last Friday’s walk-through at Ohio Stadium, (USC coach Pete) Carroll had Mustain punt before, during and after practice on Wednesday.

  Mustain also took second-team snaps at quarterback.

  ”He’s got a leg on him,” said receiver Damian Williams, who estimated that Mustain punted about five times during their senior season at Springdale High in Arkansas. “Sometimes you’ve just got to find a way onto the field and if that’s what he wants to do then hats off to him.

  ”I was back there catching some [of his kicks] and he made me run for a couple.”

  Carroll said incumbent Billy O’Malley still led Jake Harfman in the competition to handle punting duties at Washington.

  Mustain’s kicking ability would be valuable because the Trojans are limited to 64 players for conference games.”

  Well, here’s to hoping that Mustain finds a niche with the Trojans.

It’s Sept. 2. Do you remember what happened on this date three years ago?

Arkansas sufffered its second-straight blowout loss to Southern Cal, losing 50-14 in the 2006 opener in Razorback Stadium. But it wasn’t that loss that interested FoxSports.com columnist Mark Kriegel. It’s what then-true freshman quarterback Mitch Mustain did, stepping onto the field late in the game, leading a touchdown drive and winning the starting job – for awhile.

Kriegel spoke with Mustain and wrote this piece on the former Springdale High star. Mustain, who transferred to USC after the 2006 season, is sitting third on Southern Cal’s depth chart behind true freshman Matt Barkley and redshirt freshman Aaron Corp. It’s not a good sign that Mustain, who sat behind former USC QB Mark Sanchez last year, will ever hold the starting job at USC.

So on the surface, it looks like leaving Arkansas was a bad move for Mustain. Especially since he was 8-0 as a starter before being replaced by Casey Dick. But the quarterback told Kriegel he’s not looking at it that way:

I ask the Trojans’ third-string quarterback if he’d do it all over again.

“Yup,” he said. “I took that risk to be here and it hasn’t paid off yet, but there’s still a lot of time … These are long seasons. People get hurt. Things happen. Last year with Mark is a good example. There were several times I was a couple inches from playing the rest of the season or playing the full game at least.”

Anyway, it’s a good read. It’s hard to believe that USC game was three years ago, though.

How things have changed.

  OK, I know Mitch Mustain is no longer Arkansas’ quarterback and the soap opera involving him and Houston Nutt is in the past. But Mustain is from Springdale, so there will always be interest in what’s going on with the former five-star recruit.

  According to The Los Angeles Times, Mustain is trying to resolve some academic issues that have raised questions about whether he’ll be eligible to play at USC next season.

  USC coach Pete Carroll wouldn’t specify what Mustain’s academic issues relate to, but he didn’t sound too optimistic when asked if the former Springdale High star would be eligible to play tomorrow.

  ”We don’t have a game tomorrow,” Carroll told Times.

  Mustain entered the spring in a three-man race to replace Mark Sanchez as the Trojans’ starting quarterback, but the junior struggled with his interceptions and ended the spring No. 3 on the depth chart. Sophomore Aaron Corp has been tabbed as the starter, and freshman Matt Barkley is listed as the No. 2 guy.

  To read more about Mustain’s situation, here is the link to the story on the Los Angeles Times’ Web site.

Why is it that you always need a vacation from your vacation? I’m worn out after a four-day trip to Boston, but back at work. One thing I’ve noticed, though, is that we haven’t had any new posts on our blog since the baseball team’s season ended on Friday.

Well, that’s about to change.

Here are a few items of interest that might capture your attention this afternoon (and help the work day get over a little quicker).

• What is going on with former Arkansas and Springdale High QB Mitch Mustain? Mustain seems to be having some eligibility trouble at Southern Cal according to this story in the L.A. Times. The story indicates that there’s a chance Mustain, who is USC’s third-string quarterback, may not be eligible to play football this fall. That would be an another unfortunate turn for Mustain, who hasn’t played much since leaving the Razorbacks after his freshman season.

• Along those same lines, check out this interesting piece by The Birmingham News’ Jon Solomon about quarterbacks who ran the spread offense in high school having trouble adjusting to pro style systems. Solomon leads the story with Arkansas quarterback Tyler Wilson, who we know was having to get used to being under center since arriving at Arkansas.

• Guess who is grabbing some NBA Draft headlines? Former Arkansas guard Patrick Beverley, who is profiled in this piece in his hometown paper, the Chicago Tribune. I tweeted a link to this story earlier today (you can check it out by following me at @NWARobbie). The draft is coming Thursday and Beverley seems to be a trendy pick to go in the second round. Beverley told me today he’s squeezing in a final workout with Cleveland tomorrow. I’ll have more on Beverley’s road to the NBA Draft on Thursday.

• This doesn’t have Arkansas ties other than the fact Beverley could be selected in the draft. But check it out anyway. I picked up a copy of the New York Times when I was waiting for my plane (which was delayed, then delayed again) in Boston yesterday morning. The Times put together an interesting piece on NBA Mock Drafts and how the guys that do them HATE them. That’s right. The story gives you some pretty good insight into the mock draft process.