McNeal signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers as an undrafted rookie free agent, after playing collegiately for the USC Trojans.
In 2008 McNeal accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Southern California and play for the USC Trojans football team.
McNeal redshirted as a freshman tailback in 2008, his first year at USC, then saw limited action at tailback as a redshirt freshman in 2009, when he was primarily used as a returner and on special teams, and missed the 2010 season after being declared academically ineligible as a sophomore.
McNeal came off the bench at Notre Dame in 2011 and had a game-high and then-career-best 118 yards on 24 carries (he also caught a 4-yard pass).
Against Washington, he ran for a career-best 148 yards on 18 carries, including a 79-yard touchdown burst (USC's longest run since Reggie Bush's 81-yard touchdown run at UCLA in 2004) to earn USC's "Jack Oakie Rise and Shine Award."