Bellamy to crown the third-placed Raiders the team to bea

LOS ANGELES -- Alabama offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin had many faults during his tumultuous coaching tenure at Southern California. Featuring his best receiver was never one of them.Its a trait that cornerback Adoree Jackson is prepared to deal with when the No. 20 Trojans face the No. 1 Crimson Tide and sophomore Calvin Ridley on Saturday.Coach Kiffin is the offensive coordinator, so that is going to separate (Ridley) a lot from everybody else, Jackson said. You know what (Kiffin) likes to do. That speaks volumes of what they are trying to mold (Ridley) into.Jackson is expected to play primarily man-to-man pass defense under new coordinator Clancy Pendergast, allowing the young front seven to blitz. Coach Clay Helton instituted a similar game plan against UCLA last season and the athletic Jackson thrived.After alternating between defense and offense in his first two seasons at USC, Jackson only played defensive back during training camp. It was a necessary change to bring him up to speed on Pendergasts schemes after missing spring practice while trying to compete in the long jump at the Rio Olympics. It also allowed Jackson to focus on the technical aspects of playing corner, something he wasnt always able to do while playing on offense, defense and special teams in 22 of 27 games at USC.The lack of specialization seemed to hurt Jacksons performance on defense last season after only allowing one touchdown pass as a freshman, none in the regular season. He lost his footing resulting in a momentum-changing touchdown late in the first half of Stanfords 41-31 victory, and Notre Dame receiver Will Fuller got behind Jackson for a 75-yard touchdown on the Irishs first offensive play.Helton ideally plans to keep Jackson on the field for 80 plays per game and would defer to allocating that time on defense. Jackson said he would play wide receiver if asked to do so against Alabama and will handle punts and kickoffs, where he has scored four of his 10 career touchdowns.Will we use him offensively throughout the season? Yes, but I dont think it will be what you saw last year, Helton said. Allow him to be what he truly is, which is one of the best corners in college football and a dynamic returner.Jacksons primary focus is stopping Ridley. He even expressed a desire to shadow Ridley no matter where Kiffin lines him up on the field.It would say something about me if I wasnt going out there and trying to compete, if I was just shying away from it, Jackson said.Given Kiffins high-usage tendencies for his top receiver, Jackson will be kept busy by Ridley. Robert Woods had 111 receptions for 1,292 yards receiving as a sophomore at USC in 2011, and Marqise Lee set school single-season records with 118 receptions and 1,721 yards the following season. During Kiffins first season at Alabama in 2014, Amari Cooper set an SEC record with 124 receptions and his 1,727 yards smashed Julio Jones school single-season record by nearly 600 yards.Ridley looks to be the next receiver to benefit from Kiffins high-volume approach after leading Alabama as a freshman in receptions, yards and touchdown receptions en route to the national championship. At 6-foot-1 and 188 pounds, Ridley has the size and speed to be a dominant force, but USC defenders recognize Kiffins influence is what elevates him above the rest.Lane is Lane, said safety Chris Hawkins, one of 19 players still on the USC roster that played for Kiffin. In my opinion, hes one of the top five offensive coordinators in the country and he has always had a knack for getting that guy the ball. I feel like hes going to try to do the same with Calvin Ridley, but were setting some stuff up now to where were going to try and prevent that. Morgan Schneiderlin France Jersey . -- Jimmie Johnson held off a teammate, passed a pair of Hall of Famers, and dominated once more at Dover. Steve Mandanda France Jersey . There are some early surprises in the race for the Hart Trophy, but two of the contenders are the leagues biggest stars over the past decade. There are many more players in contention for the awards than just the three that Ive named, and a good or bad week can easily alter the landscape, but through the first 20 or so games of the NHL season, this is how the awards races look to me. http://www.nationalfrancesoccer.com/steve-mandanda-france-jersey/ . -- Gus Malzahn finally had his day in Fayetteville. Olivier Giroud France Jersey . Ouellette, from Montreal, already has three Olympic gold medals since joining the team in 1999. NGolo Kante Jersey . Emery skated the length of the ice and fought an unwilling Holtby during the third period of the Flyers 7-0 loss Friday night in Philadelphia. He was given 29 penalty minutes, including a game misconduct. But Emery did not face even a disciplinary hearing with NHL senior vice president of player safety Brendan Shanahan because rules 46. Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy admits his teams inept attacking display against Canberra on Monday is a major cause for concern ahead of next months NRL final series.Despite enjoying a 51-16 advantage in plays inside the opposition 20-metre zone, the normally well-oiled Storm machine were limited to just one try in what was their lowest-scoring output since March.They defended really well, without a doubt, Bellamy said.But having said that, some of our timing, some of our passing wasnt what wed like. It wasnt up to scratch. When they defend that well, we werent quite on top in attack.The defeat ended the Storms seven-game winning run and forced Bellamy to crown the third-placed Raiders the team to beat heading into the final three weeks of the regular season.Asked if the sudden loss of cohesion was a concern leading into the finals, Bellamy said: It certainly is, without a doubt. (But) with all due respect to Canberra, theyve been contenders for the last 3-4 weeks.He also said the Raiders bucked a trend of leading contenders flatlining in recent weeks.We all know Cronulla got beat on the weeekend, we all know the Cowboys got beat, we all know now we got beat.dddddddddddd I reckon those teams, weve plateaued a bit in the last couple of weeks, he said.We need to find a way to get better. At the moment, the Raiders are the team thats lifting their execution, their all-around game. Theyre the team (to beat) at the moment, to be quite honest, without a doubt.Skipper Cameron Smith accused the Raiders of deliberately conceding penalties inside their red zone in a tactic to disrupt any momentum the Storm had in attack, but said his team were also off.Unfortunately we werent crisp enough with our attack inside their 20, he said.They scrambled well and their line speed was good. Its always more difficult to score when you play against teams defending like that.The Storm, who regained prop Jordan McLean from a four-week layoff with an ankle injury, remain one point ahead of the Sharks on top of the ladder ahead of their next clash against Manly on Saturday. ' ' '