I don’t know any of this first-hand. I have done no reporting of my own. I haven’t talked to anyone directly involved in the situation. But I’m going to tell you what I heard, anyway.

Which is what blogs too often are about. Just passing on idle gossip.

But,  the heck with it. On with the speculation!

It’s about the USC quarterback situation. Does that whet your interest?

First, my sourcing.

I was told this by a guy … who got it from a guy … who may actually know. Or may have heard from someone who does know. Or maybe just made it up during an idle moment because it sounds plausible. Maybe. Got that?

Here we go:

Aaron Corp, USC quarterback?

Never meant to be USC’s starting quarterback. Maybe from Day 1. But certainly over the past year or so.

What was supposed to happen was that Mark Sanchez would start for two seasons, 2008 and 2009, and then the job would go, in 2010, to Matt Barkley — who would be a sophomore or redshirt freshman.

But as you recall, Sanchez threw a grenade into USC’s plans when he came out for the NFL draft a year earlier than most anyone expected. Certainly including coach Pete Carroll. (You remember Carroll’s remarkably graceless reaction, when Sanchez announced he was coming out, right?)

Now the Trojans had something of a dilemma, because they already had decided Corp wasn’t the guy they wanted starting … but they couldn’t quite tell him yet, last spring. Because they didn’t want to lose him to … UCLA.

(This is how the story has come down, anyway. Maybe the Bruins recruited Corp like crazy. I don’t actually know; I’m just passing on a rumor here, in grand blogger tradition.)

So,  rather than have Corp transfer out — with a chance to start for two seasons (2010-2011) at UCLA, and maybe make the Bruins better — USC went through the motions, in spring, of having Corp as the No. 1, and that kept him in the fold into this season.

But since they they didn’t really want him to play (for their team, or the Bruins), they jumped to Barkley, in August, as soon as he demonstrated that he could run the offense. More or less. And Corp got parked … but not until he was well on his way to burning his redshirt sophomore season — meaning he would have only one year at another school if he transferred after the 2009 season.

Now Corp, much to USC’s chagrin, is in the starting lineup, because Barkley suffered an injured right (throwing) shoulder at Ohio State. But you may have noticed that USC didn’t get around to announcing/conceding the Trojans would be going with Corp, at Washington, until today, Friday. Carroll suggested almost all week that Barkley might still be able to play — though Barkley appeared to have trouble raising his arm above his shoulder.

Thus, Corp is heading back to the bench the moment Barkley is vaguely healthy. And the Trojans hope that is sooner than later.

What makes this a fun rumor is … that it has an element of plausibility. It seems to explain several aspects of the USC quarterback situation. The jumping of the untested frosh over third-year-in-the-system Corp, who seems to have been treated a bit shabbily. It suggests that Pete Carroll is a guy who thinks long-term and, yes, maybe he a little devious and manipulative.

But I don’t know if any of these specifics are true. They were just given to me, off-handedly, actually … and I’ve run with them here. Remember, I don’t actually know this. It may have no basis in reality. It just makes for a good story. You provide your own healthy skepticism … same as you should when reading any unsourced blog item.