Text messages from press row...

Charles White might get his Heisman Trophy back. . . .

John Rogers, a 35-year-old Arkansas memorabilia collector who paid $216,000 this week for the trophy won by White in 1979, says he’d like to figure out a way to return it to the former USC tailback. . . .

“It pains me to think anyone would be forced to sell something so special,” says Rogers, who in August paid $1.6 million for a Honus Wagner baseball card. . . .

Rogers says he would sell the Heisman for what he paid for it, perhaps as part of a USC fundraiser designed to return the award to its original owner. . . .

White, to settle tax debts, sold the trophy in 2000. . . .

It has been resold twice since. . . .

If Kobe Bryant and the Lakers keep losing to the Indiana Pacers and Sacramento Kings of the world, they won’t win 60 games, much less 70. . . .

Did their commitment to defense carry an expiration date? . . .

The Clippers of Baron Davis and Zach Randolph and Marcus Camby, et al, are like a fantasy league team, a talented group of statistics-conscious individuals thrown together with seemingly little regard for team chemistry. . . .

Using the Bowl Championship Series standings as its seedings to format a mythical eight-team playoff, BetOnline.com says fifth-ranked USC would be favored over No. 4 Alabama in the quarterfinals, No. 1 Oklahoma in the semifinals and No. 2 Florida in the championship game. . . .

Before Pete Carroll arrived in 2001, the Trojans had gone 20 years without defeating Notre Dame and UCLA in the same season. . . .

In eight seasons under Carroll, they’ve failed to do it only twice. . . .

The enduring image of UCLA’s first eight-loss season since 1963: Rick Neuheisel and Kevin Craft huddled together on the sideline, the gasket-blowing first-year coach screaming into the overmatched quarterback’s face. . . .

Camouflage pants, helmets and numbers couldn’t hide the fact that Army was outgunned again Saturday in its annual gridiron battle against Navy. . . .

In response to a question from reader Tracy Hattingh of Portland, Ore.: Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford is, indeed, part Native American. . . .

His great-grandmother, Susie Walkingstick, was a full-blooded Cherokee. . . .

Energetic Francisco Rodriguez should fit well in New York. . . .

Who could have guessed that the Jason Schmidt signing would get even more embarrassing for the Dodgers? . . .

So much for CC Sabathia’s desire to play for a team in California. . . .

West Coast NFL teams have had their problems winning in the Eastern time zone this season, but they’re 3-0 at home against the New York Jets, who might have to win Dec. 21 at Seattle to make the playoffs. . . .

Take heart, Detroit Lions fans: The Miami Dolphins, tied with the Jets and New England Patriots atop the AFC East, were 0-13 at this time last year. . . .

Noting that rookie Derrick Rose of the Bulls needed 10 stitches to close a cut on his left forearm suffered when he rolled onto a knife while eating an apple in bed, reader Bill Littlejohn of South Lake Tahoe, Calif., e-mails to suggest, “Turnovers continue to plague the Bulls.” . . .

Michael Phelps, Ronaldinho and Kobe Bryant were the only men who made Yahoo’s top-10 list of the year’s most Internet-searched Olympians. . . .

Rounding out the list: Serena Williams; softball pitcher Jennie Finch; beach volleyball player Misty May-Treanor; Paraguayan javelin thrower Leryn Franco; and gymnasts Nastia Liukin, Shawn Johnson and Alicia Sacramone. . . .

All, not surprisingly, have turned up on top-10 hotties lists too. . . .

Corey Pavin, reportedly set to be named 2010 U.S. Ryder Cup captain today, is a former L.A. City amateur champion from Oxnard High and UCLA. . . .

Al Epstein will broadcast his 700th consecutive Pepperdine men’s basketball game Saturday when the Waves play Pacific at Malibu. . . .

The streak dates to 1987, Jim Harrick’s final season at the ‘dine. . . .

Al Carmichael, who scored the only touchdown in USC’s 7-0 victory over Wisconsin in the 1953 Rose Bowl, acted quickly when girlfriend Barbara Ann Durkee, 64, told him she refused to marry an 80-year-old man. . . .

They wed Nov. 9. . . .

Carmichael turned 80 Nov. 10.

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jerome.crowe@latimes.com