Mother’s Illness Motivates USC’s Cadigan on Field

Dave Cadigan, USC’s strong-side offensive tackle, is self-motivated. He doesn’t need coaches to prod him, nor teammates to encourage him.

Cadigan says he gets his motivation from his mother, Barbara, and her battle with cancer.

“My mother was a very serious cancer patient when I was in the fourth grade,” Cadigan said last week. “She had a mastectomy, and then cancer settled in her lungs. But she’s doing very well now. She’s one in 100,000 who is still alive. It’s really a big motivator for me.

“Not a day goes by that I don’t think about my mom and how lucky I am and what a great example of strength she is.”

That was last week. Now, the family is concerned again because Barbara Cadigan underwent tests Thursday at the UCLA Medical Center.

“The cancer has been in remission, and she has been off chemotherapy for the last 4 1/2 years,” said Patrick Cadigan, Dave’s father. “But she has had a lot of colds lately and (is) feeling weak. She had an X-ray taken earlier than she usually does, and it was found that her lungs are damaged. (Doctors) haven’t determined yet whether it’s scar tissue or whether it’s additional cancer.

“It has been a very traumatic thing for Dave and the family.”

Patrick Cadigan says his wife is a remarkable woman who ran in a five-kilometer race shortly after getting off chemotherapy.

Dave Cadigan says his mother comes to practice at least once a week and is at every USC game, home or away.

“When we played Baylor in Waco, she had the flu, but she cranked herself out of bed to make the trip,” he said. “I said, ‘Mom, you don’t have to go.’ But she went, anyway.”

So Cadigan will have a lot more on his mind than football when he lines up against Arizona State Saturday at the Coliseum.

The 6-foot 5-inch, 270-pound junior is one of the most experienced players in the offensive line. Cadigan also is distinguished for his quickness. He was timed in 4.68 seconds for 40 yards, fast for an athlete of his size.

“I was surprised,” Cadigan said. “I was basically at 4.8 and couldn’t break that plateau. But I worked out hard all summer. My goal is to hit a 4.6 flat before I leave USC.”

Cadigan was a starter in 10 of USC’s 12 games last season, five at strong-side tackle and five at strong-side guard, while replacing injured Gaylord Kuamoo and Tom Hallock.

“He played so many positions that it was hard to judge him,” said Pat Morris, USC’s offensive line coach. “Now he has settled in at tackle and is getting a feel for the position. He has quick feet, which helps him in both run and pass blocking.

“He needs to get more power in his blocking, though, and he is getting better every game.”

Cadigan said run blocking is more difficult than pass blocking, but only by a slight margin.

“To be a good run blocker, you have to drive a defensive player on his back, a de-cleater as we call it, or take him clearly out of the play,” he said. “It’s hard and takes a lot of work. Pass blocking takes a lot of technique, patience and strength.”

This is not a vintage USC offensive line in terms of experience or size. Bruce Parks, a senior with limited playing time in 1985, was forced to move from center to weak-side tackle when John Guerrero went down with a season-ending knee injury in a late-August practice.

John Katnik, a transfer from Fullerton College and a bit undersized at 6-1 and 250, moved in at center for Parks. Brent Parkinson, a redshirt freshman, is the starting weak-side guard. The Trojans average 265 pounds across the front, so they are hardly lightweights. But they’re not as hefty as Arizona State’s offensive line, which averages 275 pounds and is beefed up by tackles Danny Villa and Jim Warne at 293 and 300 pounds, respectively.

“I think we’re progressing with each game and playing more consistently,” Cadigan said. “I don’t think the guys have plateaued or receded in their playing ability, and Parks has made a good adjustment from center to tackle.”

Jeff Bregel, USC’s All-American strong-side guard, is, of course, the real heavyweight on the offensive line in both size (6-4 and 280) and ability. He is projected as a first-round choice in the NFL draft.

Cadigan said that playing next to Bregel gives him a secure feeling, and he’s inspired to try to play on the same level with Bregel.

Trojan Notes Coach John Cooper of Arizona State is trying to motivate his team for Saturday’s game by calling them USC rejects. “We can’t match up player for player with USC. If we do, they did a bad job of recruiting,” Cooper said. “I tell our players at practice, ‘You guys are a bunch of USC rejects, and the kids know I’m right. Our players were not offered a scholarship to USC, or they would be there. But when I tell them that, they get mad, and that’s good because we need a fanatical effort this week.” . . . USC Coach Ted Tollner is not countering by telling his players that they are Arizona State rejects. . . . Arizona State, 4-0-1 overall and leading the Pacific 10 with a 2-0-1 record, has beaten USC in four of six previous meetings. Cooper is in his second year as ASU’s coach, and his Sun Devils shut out USC, 24-0,last season at Tempe, Ariz. . . . Tollner said Arizona State is playing the best football in the conference right now.