It's been the rallying cry, loud and clear since the spring.
USC's approach to the 2012 season can be summed up in three words: Prep Not Hype.
It's a slogan coined by associate head coach and special teams coordinator John Baxter.
"He has all the one-liners," said senior quarterback and Heisman front-runner Matt Barkley.
Although, the Trojans' signal caller is quick to point out the nickname bestowed upon he and teammate/roommate T.J. McDonald: "7's UP," a play off of the uniform numbers of the USC captains.
"That was T.J. and I," Barkley said. "I'll take credit for that."
The decision for McDonald and Barkley, both projected first-rounders, to forego NFL riches to return to school brought a lot of hype to the Trojans' football team.
Just months after completing a two-year bowl ban, USC is the AP's preseason No. 1 team and a favorite to add the program's 12th national championship in January.
It will be an eventful four months if the Trojans are even able to make it to the BCS Championship Game in Miami. Playing for a school rich in tradition, this is unchartered waters for the present USC team.
But 2012 is different.
They're now living in a world where the spotlight is bright and BCS rankings matter.
With the bowl ban lifted, people are once again eager to see this team. They are back in the national spotlight and once again a big deal in Los Angeles, evidence of this is three of USC's home games have already sold out -- Oregon, Notre Dame, and the season opener on Saturday against Hawaii on FOX.
To put that in perspective, the Trojans had previously only sold out three games at the Coliseum during the Matt Barkley era.
"It's about time," Barkley said of the sellouts. "Those are games that I grew up going to where the corners were filled and you look up and everyone was just rocking. I love that energy.
"I thrive on the atmosphere where it's just packed and all eyes are on you and you have to perform."
Those games Barkley grew up going to at the Coliseum had Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart quarterbacking the Trojans to conference championships and Leinart to national titles.
It's a feat Barkley hopes to duplicate and a huge reason why he decided to return to school. That, and the fact that he absolutely loves being a Trojan.
However, enhanced expectations could lead to an inordinate amount of pressure, but Barkley says he feels none.
"I never really look at pressure," Barkley said. "I don't look at the season that way. I'd say it's more exciting. It's got more buzz, but not pressure."
Instead of pressure, there's a responsibility felt inside the USC lockerroom to prove to themselves that they are worthy of such praise. For both, the players who stuck around and decided not to transfer as well as those who decided to commit to USC despite being under NCAA sanctions, it's a chance to prove they made the right decision. It's an opportunity to get USC back to the top, the place where they most remember it growing up.
For the 2012 Trojans, it's similar to the responsibility they've carried with them during the last two bowl-less seasons.
"Last season we didn't have the ranking but we still had a lot to prove, just to prove that we are still SC and on the top," said junior wide receiver Robert Woods.
They proved a great deal last season, winning 10 games and finishing the season atop the Pac-12 South standings.
It wasn't supposed to be like that nor was a return to the national spotlight supposed to happen this quickly. The sanctions handed down to USC were supposed to be a crippling but the Trojans stood strong and ended the 2011 season as, arguably, the hottest team in the nation.
The Trojans defeated Pac-12 champion Oregon in Eugene, while Barkley emerged as a Heisman candidate, throwing to two targets who'd emerge as the top wideout duo in the nation --Marqise Lee and Woods.
The offense clicked on all cylinders, scoring 30 or more points in the season's final eight games.
All the while, a young defense grew light years throughout the season under defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin. Eight times, they held opponents to 17 points or less in 2011, including five of their last seven games.
A win over a 6-5 UCLA team may not say much, but 50-0 speaks volumes.
Once Barkley announced his pledge to come back, the stage was set for a USC return at or near the top of the preseason polls with a 3,000-yard passer (Barkley), two 1,000-yard receivers (Woods and Lee), and a 1,000-yard rusher (Curtis McNeal) all returning. They've since added another 1,000-yard rusher in Penn State trasfer Silas Redd.
Prep not hype has become more than just a rally cry or a motto, it's become a way of life for these Trojans.
When you walk inside the Trojans' practice facility, Howard Jones Field, there's "PREP NOT HYPE" painted on the sideline just before the players step onto the field. It's been adopted from Kiffin on down the line.
By the time Redd met with the media for a second time after joining the Trojans, he was saying it.
"It's finally our time to shine," said Woods. "We just have to play our game. Our coaches preach to us it's all about the prep and not the hype. Our coaches say if you play well, the hype will always be there right with it. So we just try to play our game (and) put in a lot of work."
The point is hammered home regularly by Kiffin.
"It will always be about the way we practice and (the rankings) won't help us win any games this year," Kiffin said.
USC will be talked about in 2012. And that's OK by Barkley. As much as the Trojans try to block out everything that's being said on the outside, the Trojans quarterback understands that it's there and it can't be completely ignored. He's aware of the Heisman talk just as much as he's aware of the target that surrounds USC as the No. 1 team in the nation.
"We haven't done anything yet. We have to prove something still," Barkley said. "We got to be perfect this year. Things like (rankings) could be a distraction, we have to eliminate those."
