CHICAGO -- Michael Mauti has made it easy on us at the Big Ten meetings.

There’s so much Penn State stuff to get to, so many angles to cover. But no one, except maybe coach Bill O’Brien, is a more compelling Penn State quote than Mauti, the senior linebacker who accompanied his coach and teammates Jordan Hill and John Urschel to the meetings.

Since the NCAA sanctions came down Monday, the face of the PSU players has been the long-haired Mauti, a Lions legacy who has been a driving force in keeping the players together and uniting the fan base and the entire program.

The NCAA is allowing Penn State guys to transfer, and play, immediately. Yet it says something about O’Brien and players such as Mauti, Hill and Michael Zordich that very few will likely leave.

It says something that, as I write this, none of the members of PSU’s incoming 2012 class — a class that moved to 20 with Thursday’s addition of Arizona linebacker Brennan Franklin — was poised to transfer. O’Brien said as much Friday.

Penn State’s head coach has been a rock this week. So has Mauti, whose passion about PSU comes through in every honest word. A story filled with Mauti quotes is an easy one to write.

This story? Not so easy.

The current players, and future players, are paying for the sins of convicted child molester Jerry Sandusky, the former PSU coordinator. The PSU coverup revealed by the Louis Freeh Report made matters far worse.

The easy way out for most is to leave.

And, yes, star tailback Silas Redd might leave the Lions for Southern Cal.

I am not a Penn State grad, but I would say this to all of you out there who are — if Redd does leave, I don’t believe he is taking the easy way out.

I think Redd will have made a very difficult decision that probably took more out of him than PSU’s 2011 season.

I think Redd, a popular teammate, wants to stay. I think he likes the new coaching staff. I think he loves fall Saturdays at Beaver Stadium.

I also think USC might afford him an opportunity that PSU cannot. And I’m not talking about a national title.

I think there is more to Redd’s difficult decision.

I think he is thinking about his NFL dream and about leaving early. And healthy.

USC doesn’t have a tailback it can trust, so Redd would step right in.

His tools fit any team. Vision. Quickness. Toughness. I don’t believe workload will be an issue for Redd with the Trojans, who suddenly would become of the country’s most-balanced offenses.

They’re going to have Matt Barkley throwing a lot. They’re going to pile up big leads. I don’t see a lot of fourth-quarter games where there will be heavy lifting for a runner such as Redd.

Redd would be in the right spot at the right time, almost overlooked on a team with Barkley. Defenses would be unable to stack scrimmage to stop him. Running lanes would be bigger, punishing hits fewer.

The runners who got most of the glory in the Big Ten last season were Wisconsin’s Montee Ball and Nebraska’s Rex Burkhead. Great players. Great numbers.

I’ll take Redd.

If you put Ball in the 2011 PSU offense, working with an average QB, a so-so offensive line and no playmakers on the flanks, he would had his hands full getting anywhere near his Badgers numbers (1,923 yards).

If you put Redd run behind Wisconsin’s powerful line, spelling him with a backup as talented as James White, who knows how many yards he would have gained?

Put Redd in the USC offense and he might average 8 yards a carry. Don’t laugh. The relatively unkown Curtis McNeal averaged 6.9 for the Trojans last season. He gained 1,000 yards and led the team with just 145 carries. Hey, it’s Barkley’s show.

More yards, probably fewer carries, great exposure ... what’s not to like?

Redd averaged 5.1 yards for PSU last year, and nothing was easy about it. He was a marked man. There was no James White backing him up, giving him a breather.

PSU’s 2011 coaching staff ran Redd into the ground in October, sending him into the line 133 times in five games — almost 27 carries per game. It is a credit to Redd’s most underrated running quality, his toughness, that he was even walking by the time PSU beat Illinois 10-7 on Oct. 29.

Redd gained 703 yards that month, including a 30-carry, 137-yard effort against the Illini, but he was never the same after. He suffered from stingers and a painful collarbone injury. He was used up.

I am not suggesting O’Brien would overwork Redd. No way. I am suggesting Redd would again be a marked man for PSU. Facing bigger defenses, grinding out yards late in games, trying to squeeze through small holes.

I am suggesting a 15- to 18-carry day at USC is not the same as a 15- to 18-carry day at Penn State this year.

I think Redd’s 2011 season is even better than it looks, and 1,241 yards look pretty good. He was maybe 50 percent for the final four games.

I remember how hard Redd ran last season, how tough he played. I remember how passionately he worked on that spring day I saw him with strength and conditioning coach Craig Fitzgerald and his teammates. He is in better condition, bigger, than he was a year ago.

Should he go to USC, I think Redd will get his chance. Redd against seven in the box is a mismatch. And that might be the one thing O’Brien, for all his offensive knowledge and creativity, cannot offer.

So I would say this to you PSU football fans out there — if Silas Redd opts to stay, rejoice. There haven’t been many runners like him pass through State College in the last 15 years.

If Redd leaves, wish him the best. He was a warrior last season. And the USC opportunity is a rare one for one of the college game’s rare players.