COLLEGE FOOTBALL ’92 : Not an Easy Turnaround : USC: After 3-8 record, the Trojans have almost nowhere to go but up, but their 11 opponents were a combined 83-46-1 last season.

In times of trouble, USC can always fall back on its tradition for inspiration and guidance.

Last season, for instance, as the Trojans struggled to a 3-8 record, their worst in 35 years, they could point to a silver lining in the cloud hanging over the Coliseum:

The last two times USC had losing seasons (in 1961 and 1983), it bounced back to win the Rose Bowl the next year, adding the national championship in ’62.

More than an omen, however, will be required to restore luster to the tarnished Trojans, as Coach Larry Smith was well aware when he started preparing for the 1992 season last winter.

After sorting through the wreckage of a season that ended with a school-record six-game losing streak, Smith set about rebuilding his team’s shattered self-esteem, enlisting a sports psychologist to aid in the healing.

“It was a tough year; there weren’t a whole lot of positives coming through,” Smith said last spring. “What I was trying to do was say, ‘Let’s put it behind us. If we sit here and dwell on it, it’s going to drive us in a hole and put more pressure on us.’

“ ‘Let’s start all over again with new, fresh ideas and some different outlooks.’ ”

Whether it was the time spent on the couch, or simply the resiliency of youth, it seemed to work. When the Trojans reported for training camp, their minds were on the promise of the future, not the failures of the past.

“The goals they’ve set for themselves point to the sky,” Smith said. “These kids have not taken a step back in any way. They look upon last season as nothing more than a temporary setback. They’re ready to shoot for the stars, and I think confidence and enthusiasm is running in abundance.”

Is it warranted?

Certainly, the Trojans are not lacking for talent, especially at wide receiver and tailback, where they seem to be overstocked.

Eighteen starters are back from a team that used an average of 12 freshman and sophomore starters last season.

Considering that several of the returning starters have lost their No. 1 status since last season, the Trojans should have more talent and experience in reserve.

Still, questions remain:

--Will this season’s inexperienced sophomore quarterback, Rob Johnson, fare better than last season’s inexperienced sophomore quarterback, Reggie Perry, who was eighth in the Pac-10 in passing efficiency last season?

Perry, a starter in all but one game, threw only three touchdown passes, with 12 interceptions.

Unexpectedly thrown into the starting lineup when former USC quarterback Todd Marinovich gave up his final two years of eligibility, Perry had taken only three snaps before last season.

Johnson is a veteran of three games, including one start. He completed 19 of 36 passes for 225 yards and two touchdowns last season, with two interceptions.

“In comparison to where we were a year ago, we’re much more experienced and more settled (at quarterback),” Smith said.

--Will the Trojans get the ball to Curtis Conway more consistently?

Conway, a junior flanker and kick return specialist, is potentially USC’s most dangerous threat and, along with junior split end Johnnie Morton, leader of a group of receivers that is among the fastest, deepest and most talented in college football.

But last season, when he was used occasionally at quarterback, Conway caught only 21 passes for 240 yards and one touchdown.

“He’s got to touch the football,” Smith said. “If we’re not getting the ball to him, we’re not doing a very good job.”

--Will tailback Estrus Crayton live up to the promise he showed during two seasons at Rancho Santiago College in Santa Ana, where he was a two-time junior college All-American?

Crayton dropped the ball four of the first six times he touched it last September, landed in Smith’s doghouse and didn’t resurface until the final weeks of the season.

In the Trojans’ last two games, against Arizona and UCLA, he gained 311 yards, establishing himself as the No. 1 tailback.

Deon Strother and second-year freshman Dwight McFadden are ready to step in if he falters--”Running back is perhaps our strongest position,” Smith said--but Crayton is being counted on to provide the breakaway threat that USC lacked most of last season.

--Will USC’s defense be better?

It couldn’t be much worse.

Among Pac-10 teams, USC was seventh against the run and ninth against the pass last season, giving up 386.5 total yards a game. The Trojans probably had never allowed more, although records kept before 1952 are incomplete.

They gave up 187.6 yards a game on the ground, more than they had allowed since 1971.

The Trojans adopted an attacking style of defense this year, with a greater emphasis placed on going after the quarterback.

“We have to get more pressure than we got last year,” said Chris Allen, defensive coordinator. “We’ve got to pass rush better.”

Defensive tackle David Webb will line up wider and be asked to go after the passer, as will linebacker Willie McGinest on the other side of the field.

“It’s the same position Junior Seau played,” Allen said, referring to the former Trojan who was the Pac-10’s defensive player of the year in 1989. “We’ve got two guys playing that position now.”

--Will USC survive a schedule that has been described as the most difficult in college football?

The Trojans’ 11 opponents had a combined record of 83-46-1 last season, a .642 winning percentage. Seven played in bowl games; five won bowl games.

The first three games will be played on the road--at San Diego State, Oklahoma and Washington--against teams that were a combined 29-7-1 last year.

--Will USC continue to struggle at the Coliseum?

The Trojans were 1-5 at home last year. And since Oct. 6, 1990, they are 1-7-1 at the Coliseum.

--If USC falters in its opener on Saturday at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium--remember, the Trojans lost to Memphis State, 24-10, in last year’s opener--will its confidence be shattered?

“We can’t have another Memphis State,” Smith said. “We’ve got to get started with a bang.”

--Will Smith find another letter in his mail from former Trojan running back (and disgruntled alum) Jon Arnett?

Last January, Arnett fired off a scathing nine-page missive to Smith, charging that the program’s management team, including Athletic Director Mike McGee, had “noticeably underperformed” and stating that “the program is in disarray and, if not addressed immediately, will quickly sink below its current level of mediocrity.”

A meeting was scheduled between Smith and Arnett, but three hours before it was to take place, Smith said, Arnett called to cancel, reportedly because he didn’t feel comfortable meeting in Smith’s office at Heritage Hall.

“Why, I don’t know,” Smith said, incredulous. “All I did was offer the man a chance to come in and talk about it. It wasn’t any kind of a war or anything.”

Still, Smith was none too pleased to receive such a letter from an alum as distinguished as Arnett, who mailed copies to all university trustees and major contributors to the football program.

“There’s a fine line between being a fan and a supporter, and a person who wants to dictate the shots,” Smith said.

--Will USC ever live down ‘91?

“We’re not worried about last year,” Smith said. “Last season happened. It was a setback.

“But don’t judge this football team on what happened last year because the day after the UCLA game, this team began to prepare itself for (this season).”

Time will tell if it paid off.