 By the pre-season practice before his freshman season at USC, McKnight had already demonstrated some of the speed and moves that made him an impact player in high school.After a slow start during his freshman season, dealing with fumble issues for the first time in his career, he made a pivotal contribution in a victory against Arizona, where he ran a punt return for 45 yards, and later ran for 59 yards to set USC up for their last 10 points in their game.McKnight achieved a break-through at the end of his freshman season during the 2008 Rose Bowl, where he had 206 all-purpose yards