Johnson keeps goals modest

After bursting onto the national landscape with his performance against Nebraska, USC tailback Stafon Johnson said he had a modest goal today against Washington State.

“Just get better,” said Johnson, a sophomore who rushed for 144 yards and averaged 13 yards a carry against the Cornhuskers.

Senior Chauncey Washington will start, but Johnson, fellow sophomores C.J. Gable and Allen Bradford and freshman Joe McKnight are also expected to carry the ball today against a defense that is yielding 138.7 yards rushing a game.

Johnson led the way last week when the Trojans ran for 313 yards.

“Of course your confidence level goes up, but with that comes everything else: How are you going to approach the game after you’ve had a big game and you know they’re going to come after you?” Johnson said. “If you just take that and say ‘I’m just satisfied with the 144’ . . . you’re not a great player.”

The Pacific 10 Conference on Friday granted former USC receiver Jamere Holland a waiver of a portion of the intra-conference transfer rule that would have prevented him from immediately receiving athletic-related aid from Oregon.

Holland will enroll at Oregon on Monday, will be on scholarship, and will be eligible in 2008, according to attorney Everett Glenn, who was retained by Holland’s family after the former Woodland Hills Taft High star was dismissed from the team by Coach Pete Carroll in August.

“Justice and fairness, that’s all it’s really about,” Glenn said.

USC initially approved Holland’s request to contact Boise State, Utah and Colorado but denied contact with Pac-10 schools Oregon, Arizona, Arizona State as well as Florida. Holland won two appeals before non-athletic department panels at USC, including one on Thursday.

Holland, who redshirted as a freshman in 2006, loses a year of eligibility but will have three years to complete three seasons starting in 2008, according to Mike Matthews, associate commissioner for compliance for the Pac-10.

Ned Miller, who has kept official statistics at USC home games since 1956, said he would miss today’s game to observe Yom Kippur, his first absence since 1967. The Jewish Day of Atonement began Friday at sundown and ends today after nightfall.

Miller said Yom Kippur fell on the day of a USC game once “about 12 or 15 years ago, but I guess it wasn’t as important to me then. It’s become more important in the last 10 years.”

USC leads the series against Washington State, 54-8-4, and is 37-5-2 against the Cougars in Los Angeles. . . . A top-ranked USC team has never lost to Washington State in four meetings (1972, 1979, 2004, 2005). . . . Safety Taylor Mays is USC’s only player from Washington. The Cougars have 33 players from California.

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gary.klein@latimes.com

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KEYS TO THE GAME

No. 1 USC (2-0, 0-0)

vs. Washington State (2-1, 0-0)

Today, 5 p.m., Coliseum

TV: Channel 7. Radio: 710

1 Rush hour. The Trojans don’t require another 300-yard rushing game, but a solid effort is needed if they’re to avoid having last week’s 313-yard performance labeled a fluke, and to give quarterback John David Booty time to throw. Another 100-yard game by running back Dwight Tardy would enhance Washington State’s passing game.

2 Catch and release. If USC receivers avoid drops and imprecise routes, they might be freed from constantly having to address questions about whether they can adequately replace Dwayne Jarrett and Steve Smith. Cougars quarterback Alex Brink relies on Michael Bumpus, Brandon Gibson, Charles Dillon and tight end Jed Collins.

3 Air defense. Brink is going to get his yards, but USC defensive backs cannot allow receivers to burn them for long gains or touchdowns. Washington State must be wary of USC offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian, who also serves as quarterbacks coach and would like to see Booty break out with his first big game of the season.

-- Gary Klein