Dorrell stepped up practices for USC

Without a game to play during the Thanksgiving holiday week, UCLA Coach Karl Dorrell gave his team a light practice schedule. But that changed the next week when Dorrell worked his players to near exhaustion before the Bruins’ 13-9 upset victory over USC.

“Man, it was the hardest week ever,” junior offensive guard Shannon Tevaga said. “Practice was crazy. For this being Week 12, he did not hold back. Coach Dorrell gave it to us.

“We practiced really hard. There were some days when I couldn’t walk after practice. But it proved to be worth it now.”

After UCLA lost to California and dropped to 4-5, Dorrell told his players that they had a clean slate. He told his team to wipe away the first nine games, which included a four-game losing streak, and look at its final three games as a mini-season.

The message clicked with the Bruins, who needed something to shoot for after their dream for a Pacific 10 Conference title faded. UCLA swept its final three games, capped with a win to end a seven-game losing streak to cross-town rival USC.

“I’m just so happy for Coach Dorrell,” junior defensive tackle Brigham Harwell said. “He’s the reason why I came to UCLA. We think he’s a great coach. All week long he stressed to us that we had to believe. He kept telling us that USC was a regular team and that they do things just like us. He set our mind-set for the game.”

*

During warmups Saturday, the Rose Bowl seemed to be evenly split between UCLA and USC fans. But once the game began, UCLA fans got behind the Bruins and played a role in some of the Trojans’ second-half false-start penalties.

“It was pretty noisy out there,” USC offensive tackle Kyle Williams said. “It was a factor. At least for me it was. It was hard to hear. That made it hard to get off” on the snap.

The noise only added to UCLA’s relentless pressure designed by defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker, whose unit held USC to 329 yards and one touchdown. In ending the Trojans’ streak of scoring at least 20 points in 63 consecutive games, Walker had the Bruins in position to make plays all game.

“Coach Walker just called a great game,” end Bruce Davis said. “We knew what they were doing because they stick to their tendencies. Not only did Walker have us in the right calls,” defensive line coach Todd Howard “called the right stunts. We were just getting in there and handling our business.”

*

Before the USC game, Dorrell selected Patrick Cowan as the starting quarterback over Ben Olson but said things could change for UCLA’s next game against Florida State in the Emerald Bowl on Dec. 27.

Cowan, 3-4 as a starter, helped his cause with a solid effort against the Trojans. But that doesn’t mean that he’s ready to lobby to start again.

“I was going to prepare at the beginning of the week to start,” Cowan said about his approach before facing USC. “If I wasn’t named the starter, I would still have been prepared to play.

“The more I play, the more I’m learning about how not to force things and take what they give me.”

*

Senior kicker Justin Medlock has 104 points, joining 10 other Bruins to score 100 points or more in a season.

Medlock is No. 2 on UCLA’s all-time scoring list with 348.

lonnie.white@latimes.com