At a speaking engagement near Palm Springs the other day, USC coach Pete Carroll said he figured he knew his former prot?g?, Lane Kiffin, would pass on Notre Dame's Brady Quinn in favor of Russell, now that Kiffin is the head coach of the Raiders. His reasoning: Kiffin likes throwing it downfield, and Russell's downfield arm is much stronger than Quinn's. "The kid from LSU is exactly what they're looking for, more than the kid from Notre Dame,'' Carroll said.