Finally, Oliver Sees Sun : USC: Trojan freshman defensive back has had a lifetime of personal rain in only a few weeks.

It had been 20 years since the USC football team played in front of such a small crowd. Twenty years.

But on the artificial surface of Parker Stadium, surrounded by a crowd smaller than he played before a few times in high school, Jason Oliver felt the world watching. And maybe the weight of the world coming off his shoulders--at least for one gloomy, overcast, typical Oregon football Saturday that seemed to Oliver more like an afternoon of sunshine.

It was a day when everyone was reminded why he became the Trojans’ starting cornerback after opening the season off the depth chart entirely. A day when he could forget everything else, at least for a while. Some days, that’s not so bad.

“It helps get my mind off all that,” he said. “I was fired up. It helps me not think about everything. It’s better than reality.”

“All that” happened during the last couple of months for the true freshman from Bakersfield.

His mother and father died within a month of each other, Marvin Oliver passing on Oct. 18, just as Jason Oliver to start for the first time, against Arizona. He played against the Wildcats, but skipped the Arizona State game a week later to attend his father’s funeral. Last Saturday, Jason played against Cal at the Coliseum, but Mike Salmon, another freshman, was the starter. Two days after the Arizona game, Oliver and teammates Willie McGinest and Michael Jones were charged with misdemeanor counts of battery and false imprisonment stemming from a July incident with a female student at a USC dormitory. The group pleaded not guilty and will return to court in December when a trial date will be set.

Saturday, Jason Oliver shook off the woes of the past weeks for a bit. He intercepted Oregon State’s quarterback Ed Browning’s pass in the third quarter and returned it 66 yards, after which he was mobbed by Trojan teammates for scoring the sixth touchdown of what would become a 56-7 rout before 18,795 fans.

“The longer the better,” Oliver said later. “The longer I get to run, the longer I’m in the spotlight.”

For something positive, this time.

“It really helps emotionally,” he said. “Playing football and being with my teammates, that helped a lot. It’s me getting to have some fun.

“That is one of the simple things I appreciate now. I appreciated my parents, but maybe not as much as I should have when they were around. I learned you have to celebrate the extremes while you’re there.”

This was one of those extremes. Oliver stopped at the back of the end zone after the touchdown and crossed the ball through his legs a few times until an official started making noise about an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for excessive celebrating.

The Trojan defense, second in the Pacific 10 Conference coming in, limited Oregon State to 11 first downs and 157 net yards, an average of only 2.6 per play. Much of the credit belongs to the front that held the Beavers to 60 yards rushing and forced three quarterbacks into numerous rushed passes, including the one that eventually landed in Oliver’s hands. But one of the most memorable performers was Oliver, who had a part in only three tackles and still left an impression.

Maybe that’s because everyone on the USC side was rooting for him.

“He looked a lot more focused, a lot more into it tonight as opposed to last week,” said Bobby April, the Trojan secondary coach. “I maybe am trying to read too much, I don’t know. But in my mind, I don’t know how anyone could have been into it last week with what he went through with his father.

“I’m glad for him. He’s had so much publicity about his private life, what with his father’s death and the accusations against him. He’s a tough kid to go through what he’s gone through and still play well. That takes a very strong person--mentally, not just on the field.

“I think that’s a good focal point. Hey, this is the start of a new life. Something positive has already happened.”