Fired USC assistant football coach Russ Purnell...

Fired USC assistant football coach Russ Purnell said he realized as long ago as Aug. 14 that he could be in trouble over football recruiting violations.

“It didn’t hit me right away, but I realized it could be a serious thing,” Purnell told the Long Beach Press-Telegram. “Mike (USC Athletic Director Mike McGee) told us a year ago he wasn’t going to put up with people in the department breaking rules, and that’s all there was to it.”

A conference and USC investigation found Purnell guilty of several NCAA infractions last week, and Purnell was dismissed.

“I’m sorry about it, and I feel bad,” he said, “but I made mistakes--I broke the rules. It was nothing personal--I have a lot of respect for Mike McGee and (head Coach) Ted Tollner--they were dismissing a rules-breaker. I don’t have any hard feelings at all,” he was quoted as saying.