Trojans manage the season’s bumps and bruises

Center Kristofer O’Dowd recently emerged from the locker room sans a post-practice ice pack, an increasingly rare sight for any USC player as the sixth-ranked Trojans approach the midpoint of their season.

O’Dowd, though, was feeling the bumps, bruises, breaks, strains and sprains of the season.

Asked when his body would tell him that it was completely healthy, the sophomore laughed and said, “Probably about midway through summer.”

O’Dowd and other starters who have logged the majority of playing time might get an extended breather on Saturday if USC blows out struggling Washington State as oddsmakers predict. The Trojans are 43-point favorites.

Senior linebackers Brian Cushing (shoulder) and Kaluka Maiava (ankle) are strong candidates to give way to younger players if the Trojans take control early at Pullman, Wash.

Quarterback Mark Sanchez, who has suffered two knee injuries, an ankle strain, thigh soreness and an elbow abrasion in his first season as a starter, is learning to manage the physical rigors.

“There’s high points and low points with those kinds of aches and pains and stuff,” he said. “I figure if I’m in the training room almost more than I’m on the practice field that I’m going to feel better when I’m out there. So, I’m been spending a lot of time in there rehabbing my knee, just doing a little extra to keep it strong, and precautionary stuff – icing, getting massaged out and things like that

“I’ve come to find out that if I want to do this for a long period of time, for some years now, I need to maintain my body.”

gary.klein@latimes.com