POINTS RB Markese Stepp lands at Nebraska after transfer from USC

LINCOLN, Neb. — Running back Markese Stepp has transferred from Southern California to Nebraska, strengthening an area of need for the Cornhuskers following the departures of Dedrick Mills and Wan’Dale Robinson.

Stepp made the announcement on Twitter on Tuesday. The 6-foot, 235-pounder appeared in five of the Trojans’ six games and was the team’s third-leading rusher with 45 carries for 165 yards and three touchdowns. He also caught three passes for 28 yards.

Mills, the Huskers’ second-leading rusher, tweeted a couple hours after Stepp’s announcement that he would enter the NFL draft. Nebraska lost one of its top playmakers Monday when Robinson announced he would transfer. Robinson was the Huskers’ primary running back when Mills was out two games and most of another because of injury.

Stepp was rated a four-star prospect coming out of Cathedral High in Indianapolis in 2018. He played in four games in 2018, and he averaged 5.7 yards per carry through seven games in 2019 before spraining an ankle and missing the rest of the season.

Stepp was listed as the co-No. 1 running back with Vavae Malepeai this past season. He struggled to find rhythm, with a turf toe injury and a strained pectoral slowing him, and he saw diminished playing time the second half of the shortened season.

Dallas Stars have 17 players test positive

The National Hockey League says 17 of the 27 players that have tested positive for the coronavirus are on the Dallas Stars.

The league announced COVID-19 testing numbers from Dec. 30-Jan 11 on Tuesday. That included 12,000 tests administered to more than 1,200 players.

Commissioner Gary Bettman on Monday said the testing numbers so far were very good.

The NHL says most of the 17 Stars players are asymptomatic and all are recovering without complication. Dallas shut down its training camp Friday and resumed practices Tuesday with more than a dozen players still unavailable.

The regular season starts Wednesday. The Stars were scheduled to play their first game Thursday but will not begin now until at least Jan. 19.

Browns wait for Bitonio, Ward, lose backups to injuries

CLEVELAND — As the Browns anxiously wait for Pro Bowl guard Joel Bitonio and top cornerback Denzel Ward to return from COVID-19 and join