Smith Kicks Back, Though He’s Down : USC: Coach makes it clear he is tired of critical comments from Cal running back Russell White.

After rushing for a USC opponent-record 229 yards and three touchdowns Saturday in a 52-30 victory at Berkeley, California tailback Russell White said he felt vindicated because the Trojans once told him they didn’t want him.

Clearly enjoying his moment of triumph, White even lashed out at Cheryl Smith, wife of USC Coach Larry Smith, saying she had told him during his time at Encino Crespi High that he would never beat USC if he went to Cal.

According to White, Cheryl Smith compared the USC-Cal rivalry to that between Crespi and Loyola high schools.

Smith’s only son, Corby, played football at Loyola.

“Loyola beat us my junior and senior seasons,” White said, “and she told me it was going to be like playing Loyola every year.”

In the past, Larry Smith has declined to respond to comments by White, who frequently has criticized the way he was treated by USC during his recruitment, but Smith made it clear Tuesday that he is tired of White’s sniping.

“I think we’ve got two kinds of people in the world--those who know how to handle success and adversity, and those who don’t,” Smith said. “And you make your own judgments (as to which category fits White).”

A nephew of Charles White, a former USC tailback who won the Heisman Trophy in 1979, Russell White was heavily recruited by the Trojans, Smith said.

School policy, however, does not allow USC to sign athletes who do not meet the academic requirements of the NCAA’s Proposition 48.

“We are not permitted to divulge any student-athlete’s academic status or admission status, but I think it’s a well-known fact that Russell White was turned down for admission here,” Smith said. “Everybody knows that.

“It’s also a well-known fact that he went through the complete recruiting process here. That (includes) making an official visit--including, on the official visit, coming to my home. And when (recruits) come to my home, my wife is the hostess.

“She does not get involved in recruiting--with anyone.”

White was offered a scholarship to USC, contingent on his ability to score the NCAA-mandated minimum score on the Scholastic Aptitude Test.

Curtis Conway accepted a similar offer, sat out a year while trying to attain an acceptable score on the SAT, then enrolled at USC last year after doing so.

White decided to sign with Cal, sitting out as a freshman and forgoing a year of eligibility under the guidelines of Prop. 48.

He has said that USC did not make it clear to him until late in the recruiting process that its scholarship offer to him was conditional. Hence, his comment that the Trojans didn’t want him.

White wasn’t the only one who belittled the Trojans after Cal thrashed USC for 601 yards and 52 points, the most ever scored against the Trojans.

Defensive tackle Chidi Ahanotu said the Trojans were “overmatched” against Cal, which built a 52-14 lead before backing off in the fourth quarter. He said it wasn’t much fun to ravage USC as the Bears did because “it was kind of like picking on somebody.”

Steve Mariucci, Cal’s offensive coordinator and a former Trojan assistant, said USC’s program was “in disarray.”

And quarterback Mike Pawlawski suggested that the Trojans didn’t want to compete.

After Cal’s first offensive play, Pawlawski said, his linemen returned to the huddle and told him: “These guys don’t want to play.”

Smith’s response?

“I went through the film and I didn’t see guys who didn’t want to play,” Smith said. “I told them at halftime (when USC trailed, 35-7) that if I saw somebody who wasn’t competing, they wouldn’t be playing the next week.

“We had some guys who were confused . . . . But as (for) guys quitting and laying down, I didn’t see that on the tape.”

Smith said it was human nature to kick a team when it’s down. “Everybody has their own personal vendetta,” he said. “I think it really comes back to, ‘Do you have class or don’t you?’ ”