MISSION VIEJO, Calif. -- As 2021 4-star cornerback Jaylin Davies prepares to step fully into the spotlight this fall as Mater Dei High School's top cornerback, he gave everyone a sneak peak of his potential in that role during the prestigious South County Passing Tournament on Saturday.

Davies delivered some big plays during the early pool play round on the way to helping Mater Dei into the semifinals.

With top 2020 cornerbacks Elias Ricks (now at IMG Academy in Florida) and Darion Green-Warren (at Narbonne HS) leaving Mater Dei this spring so that they can facilitate early graduation elsewhere, Davies will need to be a defensive key for the Monarchs.

"I'm super excited to get to showcase all my skills and all the techniques I learned and stuff like that. I'm definitely trying to have more picks than last year. Last year I dropped a lot so I'm definitely trying to capitalize on those," Davies said.

Indeed, he showed sure hands on Saturday, making several momentum-swinging plays in the defensive backfield.

Here's a video package from his performance in that 7-on-7 tournament:

As for his recruitment, Davies -- ranked the No. 9 cornerback in the 2021 class -- is a key target for USC. He said he took several visits to see the Trojans this spring/summer and remains in regular contact with DBs coach Greg Burns, defensive graduate assistant Chris Hawkins and even head coach Clay Helton.

"I've been talking to USC a lot actually. I went up there like three times. I know the coaches pretty well and the players," he said.

Among Davies' other trips this summer were visits to reigning national champion Clemson as well as UCLA.

On Clemson: "It was great. I liked it a lot. The coaches were great, it's like a home atmosphere. They were just showing me they're one of a kind, an offer from Clemson is special, not everybody gets it."

On UCLA: "UCLA was good too. They're another home school, I know a lot of the players there, so it's pretty cool."

So where do things stand? Well, it's still plenty early in Davies' recruitment and he's not rushing anything at this point.

"I'm narrowing down. Probably by like the end of the season I'll have more of an idea," he said.

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