Good morning! USC football is going to be a lean, mean, and muscular machine heading into 2024 following a summer full of efficient workouts.

What else can you find in today's edition of The Three Torches?

🥈 Cockrell earns silver in 400m hurdles
🏈 The latest Quick Hits with Keely Eure
⚔️ And much, much more!

🏅 TROJANS IN PARIS

USC track and field earned a silver thanks to Anna Cockrell and the Trojans are assured a gold medal in women’s water polo with Anni Espar and Tilly Kearns helping their teams win semifinal games. For the full Day 14 recap, click here.

🤽‍♀️ Playing in her fourth Olympic Games, two-time silver medalist Anni Espar scored one goal and added two steals and two rebounds for Spain, which finished tied with the Netherlands at the end of regulation before winning in a shootout to advance to the gold-medal game. Playing in her second Olympic Games, current Trojan Tilly Kearns had a block in regulation and scored for Australia during the penalty shootout to help the Stingers advance to the gold-medal game to face Espar and the Spaniards on August 10.

💨 Anna Cockrell placed second in the women's 400m hurdles final to earn a silver medal and Jasmine Jones placed fourth in the event during the seventh day of track and field at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Cockrell posted a personal-best time of 51.87 to run down the silver-medalist favorite on the final stretch.

🎥 Watch the final stretch where Cockrell earned her silver medal

🏃 A two-time Olympian, TeeTee Terry ran the second leg of Team USA's 4×100m relay to help win the heat and post the top overall time in 41.94 to advance to the final on Aug. 9. With a first leg of Aaron Brown (USC, 2014) and an anchor leg of Andre De Grasse (USC, 2015), Canada took third in its men's 4x100m relay heat with a time of 38.39 to automatically qualify for the final.

📈 STOCK UP

🔼 Quick Hits. Get an inside look at USC football camp with Quick Hits with Keely Eure. Watch as Lincoln Riley highlights some of the Trojans who have handled adversity thus far as the team prepares to suit up on September 1 against LSU in a neutral site game at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.

🎥 Watch Quick Hits with Keely Eure

🔼 Dream School. The former freshman All-American and three-time national award preseason watch list selection could have gone anywhere in the country, yet he landed at USC. Zachariah Branch sits down to discuss his recruiting process and why he ultimately chose to play at the pLAce to be.

Today’s Top Tier Performance presented by ARCO goes to USC track and field legend, Allyson Felix. Felix was recently elected to the IOC Athletes’ Commission after years of competing in the Olympic Games. The 11-year Olympic medalist will serve an eight-year term serving as a link between the athletes and the IOC itself.

Today’s trivia question is brought to you by Smart & Final. With more than 3,000 club-sized items and an assortment of quality, value-priced products, including farm-fresh produce, dairy, deli, meat and seafood, as well as grocery and household essentials. Smart & Final has your every need covered — all without a membership fee!

Ain’t Nothing But A Hurdle. Fresh off Anna Cockrell’s silver medal in the 400m hurdles, the former Trojans are shining with Olympic success — something that USC track and field has become accustomed to.

Our question today: how many medals have former Trojans earned in the women’s 400m hurdles in the last five Olympics?

Think you got it? Scroll down to the bottom of this email for the answer!

🏈 COUNTDOWN TO KICKOFF

23 days until kickoff, Trojan Nation!

During the 1986 season, linebacker Sam Anno set a single-game record with 23 total tackles in the home opener against Illinois. A record that still stands to this day, Anno helped lead a defense that stifled the Illini — allowing just 16 points — to a win in front of the 51,000+ Trojan faithful.

🗣️ SPREAD THE WORD

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📅 LOOKING AHEAD

Saturday, August 10

⚽️ Soccer vs. Long Beach State (Exhibition) @ 7 p.m. in Carson, CA

Friday, August 30

🏐 Volleyball vs. Pepperdine @ 6:00pm in Malibu, CA

Sunday, September 1

🏈 Football vs. LSU @ 4:30pm in Las Vegas, NV | Tickets

⚔️Click here to view the full USC Trojan Athletics Calendar

🎉 TRIVIA ANSWER

Answer: Four!

A Woman of Troy has earned a medal in four of the last five Olympic 400m hurdle races.

⚔️ Have a great weekend, everyone!