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USC junior quarterback Mark Sanchez threw for 338 yards and three touchdowns in his first career start against Virginia on Aug. 30.

Carroll tabbed Sanchez as the starter last spring.

“He feels much more confident,” Nick Sanchez said. “He really feels like he can turn it loose. He’s always worked very hard. This summer, he extended himself dramatically. The coaches and players had placed their faith in him, he was going to do everything he could to justify that faith.”

One thing Sanchez did this summer was spend hours working out with several teammates.

“We had tons of kids at our house. Lots of food,” Nick Sanchez said with a smile. “They became much more attached, more of a family. They’d go down to Mission Viejo High, they’d work for hours. Then, they’d to go the water park. There were anywhere from six to 13 kids every weekend.”

One of those was senior wide receiver Patrick Turner.

“We had fun, got our work done as well,” Turner said. “Mark has always been a great player, in my mind. He still hasn’t played his best football.”

As USC’s No. 1 quarterback, the demands on Sanchez’s time have increased dramatically. He seems to be handling it just fine, and that’s no coincidence.

In a group interview, for example, Sanchez is polite to a fault, and generally shakes hands with every reporter involved.

“He’d better. If he doesn’t, you let me know,” his father said. “Even before he was a football player, those are things we wanted to instill in him. I just felt it was the right thing. It’s about respect.

“We’ve always tried to instill leadership qualities in our three sons. Education has always been paramount, long before they were athletes. Sit in the front row in class, be the first one to raise your hand. They had tremendous responsibilities. We made it difficult at times.”

That turned out to be a good way to prepare his son for a career at USC.

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