Penn State Transfers: NCAA Rules USC, Others Cannot Exceed Scholarship Limit

During Lane Kiffin's media session Tuesday during which he all but openly recruited Penn State's Silas Redd to USC, one crucial question remained: do the Trojans have room to add the talented running back?

The NCAA had previously said that a school may exceed its total scholarship limit of 85 to add a Penn State transfer, provided the school dock itself a scholarship in the subsequent year.

But did that exception apply to schools like USC, Ohio State and others operating under scholarship caps previously reduced by NCAA sanction?

No, the NCAA said late Tuesday.

Official word from NCAA: #USC and other schools subject to scholarship limits b/c of infractions cases CANNOT go over prescribed limit.

— Michael Lev (@LevOnUSC) July 24, 2012

The ruling does not mean that USC will be unable to add Redd, assuming he wants to head to LA.

If USC has an open scholarship, it is free to offer it to Redd. The ruling simply means that the Trojans may not avail themselves of the NCAA exemption permitting a school to exceed its limit by forfeiting a scholarship in the following year.

For more on Trojans football, visit USC blog Conquest Chronicles, plus Pac-12 blog Pacific Takes and SB Nation Los Angeles.