Trojans need to control themselves

His cardinal-and-gold tie gleaming in the sun, Mike Garrett stepped in front of the shiny red car with a huge grin.

USC had just been awarded this year's Lexus Gauntlet Championship for winning its overall sports competition against UCLA, and a group of Trojans coaches gathered outside Heritage Hall on Tuesday afternoon to celebrate.

The prize was a 150-pound replica of a medieval gauntlet.

But Garrett had his eye on something else.

"We love Lexus, the car," Garrett said, glancing back at the promotional vehicle, looking over at an auto executive. "If I could have one, I'd appreciate it."

Everyone laughed, sort of.

It was a joke, but a bad one.

With two of the most high-profile athletes in recent Trojans history being investigated for accepting everything from free clothes to a free house, it's time for the USC athletic director to pay up.

After enjoying several years of unmatched athletic prosperity, it's time for him to give the Trojans nation some unvarnished accountability.

Mike Garrett has some explaining to do.

In the wake of this weekend's documented allegations that basketball star O.J. Mayo was regularly paid by a lackey named Rodney Guillory, Garrett needs to explain things like, how could his school allow a known cheat like Guillory to even be close to its program?

Guillory's involvement had already led to the suspension of former Trojans basketball player Jeff Trepagnier, and you invite him back?

"Right now, there's an investigation going on, and we can't really comment on it," Garrett said Tuesday.

Faced with news leaking from upcoming depositions in a lawsuit against Reggie Bush -- whose parents allegedly were given free housing by wannabe agents -- Garrett needs to explain his school's role in the case.

Bush being the hottest Heisman Trophy candidate for the flashiest program in the country, couldn't his home life been monitored more closely?

"Historically it's always been inside," Garrett said of NCAA problems. "Now we're talking outside for the first time. . . . It just seems individuals want to act on their own behalf, that's what we're dealing with."

Everyone knows that both problems came from the outside. So far, there has been no evidence that the Trojans knew anything about either issue.

But if they didn't know, why not?

If they tried to know, what happened?

If they have monitors in place to prevent this NCAA lawlessness, what are they?