SAN FRANCISCO — Joe McKnight is back with the USC football team. Whether he plays in Saturday’s Emerald Bowl is a matter of time, and there might not be enough.

The school’s compliance office made enough progress in its investigation of McKnight’s use of a borrowed SUV to allow the star tailback to rejoin the team and practice Thursday. But McKnight had not been cleared to play as of Thursday evening — which also happened to be Christmas Eve.
“It’s just difficult,” USC coach Pete Carroll said. “It’s Christmas. Everything you can think of contributing to this — the timing and the deadline we have on Saturday — makes this hard. We’ll just see what happens.”
Carroll could not comment on any specifics of the case but said the compliance department still was trying to “verify some information ... and get comfortable with what they’ve received to declare everything is fine.” Attempts to reach compliance-department officials were unsuccessful.
The school requested that McKnight remain in Los Angeles through Wednesday to aid the investigation. He did not travel with the team Monday and missed Tuesday and Wednesday’s practices.
He rotated in at tailback Thursday and should have the game plan down after working on it all of last week. Still, Carroll suggested McKnight might have a reduced role if he is cleared because his head might not be.
“He’s happy to be here but worn, understandably,” Carroll said. “All of this has been challenging for Joe.
“That’s why we got him here and tried to get him a couple of days to get into it. It’s 2› days (away), but those days had an impact. We’ll see how he’s doing. He’s a great competitor. (But) we’re not going to overload him at this time.”
McKnight declined comment through a school spokesman. When approached by reporters after practice, McKnight sprinted toward the team buses parked near the field at City College of San Francisco.
Carroll said it was important for McKnight to be reunited with his football family for Christmas. Whether he will participate in the Trojans’ post-Christmas bash against Boston College remained unknown as the holiday approached.
“The fact that they got this far along allows us to think that there is a legitimate chance for him to be OK’d to play,” Carroll said. “We really think he’s going to be OK. But it might happen after the game, which would be a real misfortune if that’s what takes place.”
’BEST’ OF BARKLEY?
Carroll is expecting an efficient and effective performance from quarterback Matt Barkley in the final game of his freshman season.
“This is a two-week preparation for him. He should be at his best,” Carroll said. “This is the culmination of the season. He had a little break and came back from it. It’s almost like going into a mini spring football. I’m hoping that he feels very comfortable with what’s going on and that he can show that he’s growing.”
BATES AND NFL
Quarterbacks coach Jeremy Bates declined to comment on speculation that he could return to the NFL after the season.
“We’ve got a big game on Saturday,” he said. “We’re not going to deal with anything like that.”
Bates’ former boss with the Denver Broncos, Mike Shanahan, is rumored to be the top candidate to become the next coach of the Washington Redskins. Shanahan also has been linked to the Chicago Bears.
Whether Bates would rejoin Shanahan could depend on whether Shanahan hires son Kyle as offensive coordinator. Kyle Shanahan currently works in that capacity for the Houston Texans.
CORNERBACK UPDATE
Senior cornerback Kevin Thomas did not practice to rest an ankle he jammed last week. Thomas is expected to start in Saturday’s Emerald Bowl.
Carroll again declined to name a starter on the other side, although junior Shareece Wright has been taking most of the first-team reps in place of Josh Pinkard (knee). Wright was academically ineligible during the regular season.