Thanks to a stifling defensive performance by the Stanford Cardinal against USC, there is a new leader in CLA’s weekly Heisman pecking order. Early season favorite Matt Barkley struggled against the Cardinal, failing to throw a touchdown and throwing interceptions on consecutive passes in the Trojans 21-14 loss in Palo Alto.

1. DeAnthony Thomas RB Oregon

1. Matt Barkley QB USC

USC quarterback Matt Barkley tossed six touchdowns to lead the Trojans over Syracuse 42-29 at Metlife Stadium in New Jersey. As expected, Barkley continues to utilize playmaking wideouts Marquis Lee and Robert Woods.

A tough road game at Stanford this week should present a challenge to the Trojans. Expect Barkley to rise to the challenge and have another Heisman worthy performance.

2. DeAnthony Thomas RB Oregon

Mission Hills (Calif.) Bishop Alemany wide receiver Steven Mitchell is one of the most talented athletes in the nation at his position. The USC commit does everything that you would want a wide receiver to do and he does it all well. Let’s take a quick look at Mitchell’s game and how he translates to the USC Trojans’ high-powered offense.

Today's game came up to the fourth quarter. Coach told us to come into this game and compete. I feel like we didn't come into the game as ready and focused as the other games we've played. We underestimated them from the beginning of the first half.

The score settled at a 20 to 20 tie as we went to the locker room. In the locker room we talked about making up for the mistakes we made in the first half and that when we come out the second half we have to focus and play "Serra Football."

This week we take on Lake Elsinore. We play on a Thursday due to their schedule, but either way it doesn't stop us at all from preparing for what they're bringing. We've studied the way they run their Wing T offense & watched carefully on each position that is critical to their type of offense.

So, this week we take on Mira Costa High School. We've all been working hard this week, mostly on the mental stuff. Last week was a big win for us versus a power house like Long Beach Poly and the week before that when we took on Notre Dame. Two games isn't what we want. I'm sure there are plenty of people out there expecting us to win CIF and State this year, but as of right now we are taking each game one at a time.

Practice this week has been a little off but we still maintain the mental focus for the game against El Rancho. This is the first time that Diamond Ranch will play El Rancho. Watching film, we noticed that their quarterback is one of their main threats, which made practice a lot of more getting used to the option and quarterback run.