Ervins Was Driven : USC Tailback Has Worked Way Inside

The first time USC tailback Ricky Ervins heard the roar of a Rose Bowl crowd, he cut to the right, hit the brakes, zoomed left and kicked it back into gear.

Nobody laid a hand on him.

Of course, nobody could, because he was behind the wheel of his car at the time.

Ervins was leaving his job as a Rose Bowl parking lot attendant that day. An all-state running back at Pasadena’s Muir High School, Ervins was picking up some extra money while, inside the Rose Bowl, Arizona State was beating Michigan.

“I had no idea how much fun it was,” said Ervins, referring to the game, not the parking lot. “The crowd was cheering. I told myself, ‘One day, I’m going to play in this Rose Bowl.’ ”

And sure enough, a year later, when Ervins looked in his rear-view mirror, he saw opposing defenders chasing him .

That wasn’t really so surprising. After all, this is a guy who once gained 225 yards rushing and scored four touchdowns in one quarter.

That was against Arcadia in his junior year at Muir.

As a senior, Ervins rushed for 1,602 yards--6.8 a carry--and scored 21 touchdowns. He also caught 44 passes for 568 yards and four more touchdowns.

At USC, however, he had to battle just to get his hands on the ball.

Playing behind Steven Webster, Scott Lockwood and Aaron Emanuel, Ervins carried the ball just 129 times in his first two seasons as a Trojan for 549 yards and three touchdowns. Playing in the last two Rose Bowl games, he has rushed just nine times for a dozen yards.

But when Ervins came out for spring practice this year, he felt confident his time had arrived.

“I wanted to show what I could do,” he said. “I wanted to come out of there the starter.”

Instead, he came out with a limp.

Suffering a badly sprained ankle, Ervins didn’t get back on his feet until July.

“I was about to report (to preseason camp) and I still felt pain,” he said.

Especially when he looked at the depth chart. Not only wasn’t he starting, he was listed third, behind both Lockwood and Emanuel.

Then came opening night against Illinois. With a redshirt freshman, Todd Marinovich, at quarterback, the running game was expected to carry the offensive load early for the Trojans.

Run to daylight?

It disappeared as quickly as the setting sun over the rim of the Coliseum that Labor Day evening. With the offensive line unable to open many holes and the backs unable to take advantage of the few that were there, the final totals read: 79 yards rushing for USC, 32 yards in 15 carries for Emanuel, 31 in 10 for Ervins. And no touchdowns.

“I think we were living on the polls, the ratings,” Ervins said. “We were reading all the clips that said USC was rated No. 2, going to the Rose Bowl. Maybe it’s a good thing we lost because it kind of opened our eyes.”

So did the new depth chart for the next week. Lockwood was out with a dislocated thumb. And Emanuel was out of the starting lineup, replaced by Ervins.

“I think it wakes people up,” Ervins said of the lineup changes. “(People say), ‘Hey, I could be a starter and I could lose my job that quick.’ ”

Ervins had to be salivating at the chance to open against Utah State, a poor team playing in a conference decidedly inferior to the Pac-10.

But the first time he touched the ball, Ervins had to be wondering if this just wasn’t meant to be his year. The hole was there, the moves were there and he raced 46 yards to the end zone.

But a flag was also there. A holding call nullified the play.

There would, however, be others. Many others. Before the night was finished, Ervins, stirring memories of his Muir days, carried 35 times for a career-high 180 yards and two touchdowns. One of his runs went for 78 yards.

Now, nobody is confusing Utah State with Illinois, or with Ohio State, the Trojans’ opponent this week. If the Aggies wanted a win, they would have had a better chance by buying a lottery ticket. But Ervins still saw it as a big game.

“We needed that for the confidence,” he said. “Now the players see what we’ve got. Now we know we have a lot of talent out there. It was just (a case of) letting us go out and play. Just letting us be more relaxed. Just let go, let loose.”

The result brought a large smile to the face of Coach Larry Smith as he watched the game films.

“We had some very good performances in there, but I would expect it,” he said. “No disrespect to Utah State, but it’s not the same kind of personnel that you face week in and week out.

“It gave some people some confidence. I don’t think there’s a false sense of confidence because we realize this week is a heck of a lot different. But there’s just a different air. I think maybe we answered some question marks about ourselves to ourselves.”

And gave Ervins the chance to dispel any lingering doubts about his ability. It’s still a long way to the Rose Bowl, but if USC should get that far, Ervins just might be back in the driver’s seat.

This time, on the field.

Trojan Notes

Among the reserves who impressed Larry Smith against Utah State were quarterback Shane Foley, tailback Mazio Royster, wide receiver Larry Wallace, defensive back Marvin Pollard and linebacker Matt Gee. . . . “We had about five or 10 walk-ons that played in their very first Trojan game,” Smith said. “Guys that were never recruited by anybody. It was nice to get a guy like (offensive lineman) Dale Evans and people like there in there, people who have been busting their tails for two years and never seen the field. For a guy like him to play three plays, that was a big thrill.” . . . Reserve tailback Calvin Holmes, suffered a sprained ankle Saturday and his status remains day to day. . . . Reserve running back Eric Dixon suffered a dislocated shoulder Saturday and will be out for three weeks.