USC is likely to be without starting running back Vavae Malepeai for the foreseeable future as the redshirt junior is set to have surgery on his knee, Clay Helton revealed during his post-Notre Dame conference call.
Malepeai has been dealing with a sore knee for weeks and Saturday it finally reached the tipping point. With swelling still an issue, the Trojans have decided to take the back out of rotation so he can have doctor’s clean up his knee for good.
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The timetable for Malepeai’s return to action is unknown, though Helton did not indicate the surgery is season-ending.