Media day earlier this afternoon and Gary Bell Jr.'s status for this week's games was the first item in my notebook that will run in Wednesday's S-R.

Bell, who broke his right hand Dec. 28, hopes to play against San Diego on Thursday and BYU on Saturday but he needs medical clearance. The next step in that process is an appointment Wednesday for his weekly X-ray. Bell has missed roughly 3 & 1/2 weeks. Saturday will be the 4-week point. When Bell was diagnosed with a broken right hand, he was expected to miss 4-6 weeks.