USC Hopes Memories Haunt Cal This Year : Trojans: The Bears’ attitude after 52-30 victory in ’91 serves as motivation. Russell White will not play.

California tailback Russell White, the Pacific 10 Conference rushing leader, will sit out today’s 3:30 p.m. game against USC at the Coliseum because of a groin injury, but a letdown by the home team is not likely.

During a season of potential pay-back games for USC, probably none has been as eagerly anticipated by the Trojans as this one.

It’s not only that Cal rolled over USC last season, 52-30, scoring more points than any team had ever scored against the Trojans.

Or that White, who predicted a big day, ran for 229 yards, a record for a USC opponent.

The Golden Bears rubbed it in, mocking the Trojans afterward.

Cal quarterback Mike Pawlawski, who has gone on to the pros, accused the Trojans of giving up.

Defensive tackle Chidi Ahanotu said the Trojans were so overmatched that he felt as if he were picking on them.

White, a nephew of former USC tailback Charles White but no friend of the Trojan family, even chided Cheryl Smith, wife of USC Coach Larry Smith.

USC hasn’t forgotten.

The Trojans believe that the Bears poured it on, before and after they left the field.

“I was really upset,” split end Johnnie Morton said. “If you’re beating a team by a respectable margin, you should call off the dogs and make it respectable.

“(But) the thing that really upset everyone was the talk. They can beat us--fine--but you don’t need to degrade someone.”

So, revenge is on USC’s mind.

“I don’t think we need a lift after what happened last year,” linebacker Willie McGinest said. “We want to make Cal hate this place when they leave here. We want to make their visit to the Coliseum an unpleasant one.”

Smith, though, has tried to keep his players’ emotions in check.

“You can’t play the game of football like a raging bull,” he said. “You can be motivated, but there’s a point where you’ve got to see things. You can’t be so fired up that you’ve got tunnel vision. The best thing we can do is focus on Cal this year, not Cal last year.”

Cal this season is led by first-year Coach Keith Gilbertson, who was Washington’s offensive coordinator last season.

The Bears are 3-2, with victories over San Jose State, Kansas and Oregon State, and losses to Washington and Purdue.

Last season, they were 10-2.

Sophomore Dave Barr, who replaced Pawlawski, has completed 62.8% of his 137 passes for 928 yards and eight touchdowns, with seven interceptions.

But the Bears’ top offensive threats have been White and wide receiver Sean Dawkins, a junior who last week broke Wesley Walker’s school record with his 23rd touchdown reception. It was his sixth this season.

Cal, averaging 433.8 yards, is second in the Pac-10 in total offense, averaging 237.2 yards passing and 196.6 rushing.

White, who is averaging 121 yards rushing, will be replaced by Lindsey Chapman, who was the No. 8 rusher in the Pac-10 last season as White’s backup.

Chapman, who has carried 35 times this season for 160 yards, will be tested by a USC defense that is fourth in the nation against the run and ninth overall.

Defensively, Cal has given up an average of 272.2 yards, only 1.7 more than USC. The Bears are 12th in the nation in total defense.

And they won’t be intimidated.

Early in the week, before he was told that he would be held out today because of a toe injury, senior defensive tackle Mack Travis told Jeff Faraudo of the Hayward Daily Review: “Bring on USC. The one year we put it to them good, they want to cry about it. Nothing has changed. We want to beat them badly again.

“From what I’ve heard, we were their inspiration through winter, spring and summer camp. We really kind of put a beating on them and they’re not used to that.

“We want to beat them until they can’t play football anymore.”

The Trojans share the feeling.

“They’d better come with their best because we’re going to come with our best,” McGinest said.

Trojan Notes

Neither Russell White, also bothered by an elbow injury, nor defensive tackle Mack Travis made the trip. . . . Travis will be replaced by Stafford Evans, a former junior college All-American at Pasadena City College.

USC tailback Deon Strother, who has yet to play this season because of an ankle injury, is expected to make his debut. . . . USC tailback Dwight McFadden, who sat out against Oregon last week because of an ankle injury, also is expected to play. . . . The starting time was changed to 3:30 p.m. to accommodate ABC, which will televise the game regionally. . . . A crowd of 55,000 is expected.