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2008: Johnson, coming off an impressive showing in 2007, will battle for the starting tailback job as a junior in 2008. 2007: Johnson showed great promise as an often-used backup tailback as a sophomore in 2007. Overall in 2007 while appearing in 11 games (all but Stanford and Arizona), he ran for 673 yards (second on USC) on 98 carries (6.9 avg.) with 5 touchdowns and caught 4 passes for 15 yards (3.8 avg.). He bruised his left foot against Washington and missed the Stanford and Arizona games. He had surgery on a dislocating left shoulder prior to 2007 spring practice and was sidelined for spring drills. He had 64 yards on 12 carries with a pair of short TD runs and also had a 7-yard catch against Idaho. He ran for a career-best 144 yards on just 11 carries (with a 7-yard TD)-the most rushing yards by a Trojan since Reggie Bush had 260 versus UCLA in 2005-at Nebraska to earn Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Week honors. He added 48 yards on 9 carries against Washington State. At Washington, he had a game-high 122 yards on 14 carries with an 8-yard TD and also caught a 5-yard pass. After a 2-game layoff because of injury, he returned for the Notre Dame game and had 47 yards on 8 attempts, then had 9 yards on 3 carries and a 9-yard reception at Oregon. He added 37 yards on 6 carries against Oregon State and 9 yards on 7 carries (including a 3-yard TD run for the game's decisive points) at California. He rushed for 16 yards on 4 carries at Arizona State, then added 73 yards on 15 tries against UCLA. He ran for 104 yards on 9 carries against Illinois. 2006: Johnson was a reserve tailback as a freshman in 2006, his first year at USC. Overall in 2006 while appearing briefly in 3 games (Washington State, Stanford, Oregon), he ran for 17 yards on 3 carries (5.7 avg.), with all the yards coming at Stanford. HIGH SCHOOL: He was named a 2005 Parade All-American, Super Prep Elite 50, Prep Star Dream Team, ESPN 150, Super Prep All-American, Prep Star All-American, USA Today All-USA second team, EA Sports All-American second team, U.S. Army All-American Game participant, Super Prep All-Farwest Offensive MVP, Prep Star All-Western, Long Beach Press-Telegram Best in the West first team, Orange County Register Fab 15 first team, Tacoma News-Tribune Western 100, Cal-Hi Sports All-State first team, All-L.A. City Co-MVP and Los Angeles Times All-Star honoree as a senior running back and defensive back at Dorsey High in Los Angeles (Calif.). He ran for 2,197 yards on 247 carries (8.9 avg.) with 22 TDs in 2005. As a junior in 2004, he made Cal-Hi Sports All-State third team, Cal-Hi Sports All-State Underclass first team, All-L.A. City MVP, Los Angeles Times All-Star and Los Angeles times All-Central City MVP. He rushed for 1,879 yards (8.6 avg.) with 18 TDs and posted 25 tackles and 3 interceptions in 2004. He was a Cal-Hi Sports All-State Underclass third team, Cal-Hi Sports All-State Sophomore, All-L.A. City and Los Angeles Times All-Central City selection as a sophomore in 2003 when he ran for 1,701 yards and 18 TDs. In his 4-year career, he set the L.A. City rushing record with 5,777 yards and 58 TDs. He also ran track (with a best of 10.7 in the 100 meters) at Dorsey, where his father, Stan Johnson, was a long-time assistant track coach. PERSONAL: He's a sociology major at USC. His cousin is current Trojan Travon Patterson. STAFON JOHNSON ON: His limited playing time as a freshman in 2006: "I just didn't give my best in 2006. I just knew I was better than that. Unfortunately, I didn't come into camp and do as much as I could. I just wasn't being consistent, wasn't living up to expectations day in and day out. That's what got me in the predictment I was in. In college, you have to come prepared every day. It was very humbling. I just had to keep pressing forward, taking care of things I could take care of. You can't take care of playing time unless you make sure you do everything you can doOne thing I was brought up on was never giving up. Just make sure you push it every day and eventually things will come to pass. You just don't give up, because the time you give up might be the time things open up. You keep pressing forwardThis is my town, my city, my friends. I wasn't going to leave them. Whatever I did, I wanted to do it here. That whole year of maturity and growing up helped me a lot. Being that I didn't play, it brought me back down to reality to the point where I had to know what to do. I had to look at myself in the mirror and look at what I did wrong that stopped me from doing the things I wanted to do. I know I'm capable of doing some things, it's just whether I can do them on a consistent basis." WHAT OTHERS SAY: USC head coach Pete Carroll: "He's a very good all-around football player. He's got a lot of natural instincts to him. He can do a lot of stuff. And he's way more confident now and is working more consistently. He's really difficult to tackle, he's got great sense and great balance and he runs tough. And he hangs onto the ball really well." USC running backs coach Todd McNair: "He has grown up a tremendous amount. A lot of people would have run after what happened to him in 2006. They would have been embarrassed being in their hometown. But it says a lot about Stafon's character. He saw the bullet, looked at it in the eye and attacked it. And it's paid off for him."
GAME-BY-GAME WITH STAFON JOHNSON 2007
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