LOS ANGELES (AP) - Although Matt Barkley has already graduated from USC, he's eager to get to work on his final college project.

After a two-year wait for the chance to play for a national championship, the senior quarterback leads the No. 1 Trojans into their season opener Saturday against Hawaii and new coach Norm Chow.

The Coliseum is sold out in anticipation of a return to dominance by USC, which reigned atop college football for a good part of the previous decade while Barkley was a wide-eyed fan growing up in Orange County.

Barkley is at the controls of an offense with an impressive array of talent, including 1,000-yard receivers Robert Woods and Marqise Lee and 1,000-yard rushers Curtis McNeal and Silas Redd.