USC football: Matt Barkley preparing to ‘go out with a bang’

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Times columnist Bill Plaschke checked in with USC quarterback Matt Barkley, who did not dismiss the idea of leaving the Trojans for the NFL after this season.

‘I’ll just say this — I want to put myself in a position to go out with a bang,’ Barkley told Plaschke. ‘I’m not trying to get out of here, but I want to play great enough to make sure that there is no question, no doubt, about what I have to do.’

On Wednesday, in a cluster of reporters after practice, Barkley was asked about ‘the guy up north,’ a reference to Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck. The junior is a Heisman Trophy front-runner and the projected No. 1 pick in the NFL draft.

‘What guy?’ Barkley joked. ‘Who are you talking about?’

Barkley said a completion percentage of 70% was a realistic personal goal this season and that a touchdowns-to-interceptions ratio of 30-10 was ‘a good starting point. And hopefully we’ll try and do better than that.’

More later at latimes.com/sports.

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-- Gary Klein