Robinson Helped Make Job Tougher : USC: Returning Trojan football coach has a high standard to live up to--his own.

Coach John Robinson, who helped maintain USC’s extraordinary football tradition in the late 1970s and early ‘80s, winning a share of the national title in 1978, is busy trying to rebuild that tradition in the ‘90s.

When Robinson left USC after the 1982 season, the Trojans had won five consecutive games over Notre Dame and had beaten the Irish 14 times in 16 games. USC hasn’t beaten Notre Dame since, having lost 10 in a row.

Robinson also won five of seven games against UCLA, which has defeated the Trojans for the last two seasons.

Robinson was 4-1 in bowl games and won three consecutive in the Rose Bowl. The Trojans, who have lost four of their last six bowl games, haven’t played in a Rose Bowl game since 1990.

And so, expectations are high that Robinson will immediately revive the Trojans, who had a 9-13-1 record in Larry Smith’s last two seasons.

“I find myself shooting my mouth off saying, ‘Yeah, we’ll win all the games,’ ” Robinson said Thursday during an informal meeting with reporters at Heritage Hall.

“But I think here you have to have those expectations. I do not think you can function in this place without the expectation of winning. That’s why we wanted (to open the season against) Miami. We perceive that we should be in the top five in the country every year. . . . “We can never be an underdog. I will never allow our team to see themselves in that light. I don’t want us to see ourselves as an overdog either.”

Robinson’s second era as Trojan coach will begin in the Disneyland Pigskin Classic at Anaheim Stadium, which is tentatively set for Aug. 29. Although Robinson hoped to play Miami, the Hurricanes are apparently reluctant to play in the game because they have a Big East game at Boston College the following week.

“We felt Miami was the best team in college football the last 10 years and we want to be the best (team) in the next 10 if we can,” Robinson said.

“And I think we have an obligation as a university because we didn’t do so well the last time (in a Freedom Bowl loss to Fresno State). It was a bad day for USC, not only as a football team, but for the USC fan. Not many (USC fans) showed up. If we are in fact what we think we are, we ought to bring 67,000 on Aug. 29.”

Don Anderson, executive director of the Disneyland Pigskin Classic, said he’s still pursuing Miami and hopes to have an answer by next week.

Trojan Notes

The Trojans on Thursday announced the signing of Pasadena High linebacker Trey Towns and teammate Phalen Pounds, a 6-foot-7, 290-pound lineman. . . . USC will open spring practice on March 14 and will have 15 practice sessions, including 10 in pads. . . . John Robinson’s staff is headed by offensive coordinator-quarterback coach Mike Riley, who won two Grey Cups in four years as head coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League, and defensive coordinator Don Lindsey, who spent 10 seasons at USC and has coached at Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia Tech and Missouri.

Three former NFL players are on the staff. Former Ram tailback Charles White, the 1979 Heisman Trophy winner at USC, will coach the running backs, and former USC All-American safety Dennis Thurman, a 10-year NFL veteran, will coach the defensive backs. Former Ram center Doug Smith, a 14-year NFL veteran, will coach the defensive line.

Robinson’s son, David, will coach the tight ends and Mike Sanford was retained from Larry Smith’s staff to coach the wide receivers. Keith Burns, who coached at Rice last season, will coach the outside linebackers, and Mike Barry, who coached at Colorado last season, will coach the offensive line.