He was born on January 24, 1987 in Park Ridge, New Jersey. He stands six feet four and weighs 245 pounds.

He attended highschool at Bergen Catholic High where as a junior in 2003, he made Student Sports Junior All-American, All-State first team and All-Bergen County Defensive Player of the Year while posting 120 tackles, 22 tackles for loss, 9 sacks and 7 interceptions. Despite missing 3 games with an ankle sprain, he earned a number of awards in 2004, among his honors were Parade All-American, USA Today All-USA first team, Super Prep Elite 50, Prep Star Top 100 Dream Team, Student Sports Top 100, Rivals 100, Super Prep All-American, Prep Star All-American, Tom Lemming All-American, Scout.com All-American first team, EA Sports All-American second team, Super Prep All-Northeast Defensive Player of the Year, Prep Star All-East and All-State Defensive Player of the Year as a senior linebacker, running back and tight end at Bergen Catholic High in Oradell. Recorded 120 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 10 sacks and 7 interceptions on offense in 2004, plus 475 rushing yards with 10 touch downs and 13 receptions for 456 yards with 7 touch downs and a kickoff return for a score.

In the 2005 season, he made quite an impact as a first-year freshman linebacker, despite missing nearly half the season with a shoulder injury. Where he started USC's last 4 games on the strong side after previously serving as an often-used backup there and a key special teams player.

He also made it to the 2005 Scout.com Freshman All-American honorable mention. Later after the season, he had surgery to repair a dislocating shoulder. As a starter, he led USC with 7 tackles at California, then added 4 stops, a deflection and a fumble recovery to set up a USC field goal against Fresno State, had 2 tackles, a fumble recovery and a deflection versus UCLA and had 1 tackle and 1 deflection against Texas. While as a backup, he had 5 tackles against Stanford, 2 tackles and blocked a punt to set up a USC field goal at Washington, 1 tackle and forced a fumble that USC recovered for a touchdown at Hawaii and 1 stop versus Washington State.

The promising Cushing will likely miss 2006 spring drills while recuperating from shoulder surgery.