COLLEGE FOOTBALL : First Things First : USC’s Willie McGinest Puts the Pros on Hold so He Can Try to Reach Goals

Why doesn’t Willie McGinest pick on someone his own size?

That’s what some wondered at a Trojan football practice the other day, when the 6-foot-6, 245-pound defensive end picked a fight with Stuart Gage, an offensive tackle who goes 6-4 and 300 pounds.

Actually, USC Coach John Robinson would prefer that McGinest pick on smaller players, such as quarterbacks.

But most saw the McGinest-Gage match at Wednesday’s practice as a couple of eager big guys, sick and tired of football practice.

“That was it,” McGinest said. “We’re all just pretty tired of practice. We want to play a game.”

That will happen Sunday night at Anaheim Stadium, where the Trojans will open their season against North Carolina.

A senior, McGinest has the kind of talent that evokes comparisons to such previous Trojan defensive standouts as Junior Seau, Mark Carrier, Duane Bickett and Rod Martin. McGinest evens wears Seau’s old number, 55.

Says Arizona Coach Dick Tomey of McGinest: “He’s a great player. If the Pac-10 had a player draft, he’d be my first pick.”

Adds USC defensive coordinator Don Lindsey: “He’s potentially awesome. One day last spring, when he was going against Tony Boselli and Brad Banta, he had as outstanding a practice as any player I ever coached.

“But the key for Willie is to close the gap between his great talent and his effort.”

That’s the only knock on McGinest, an All-Pac-10 choice at linebacker last season. He had 63 tackles, 23 of which were for a team-high 23 losses. And he was the conference’s co-leader in sacks with 16.

Says Lindsey: “We’ve told Willie we want him to play so hard on every play that we’ll have to take him out of the game once in a while.”

McGinest made a play on a blocking sled that might have been the highlight of USC’s two-week training camp at UC Irvine.

McGinest hit one of the blocking stations so hard he snapped off the steel stem, prompting a standing ovation by his defensive teammates.

McGinest considered leaving USC after last season and trying the NFL draft, but after a long talk with Carrier, a longtime friend, he decided to stay.

Carrier, a former USC All-American defensive back, is now with the Chicago Bears.

“Mark grew up right around the corner from me (in Long Beach),” McGinest said. “We’ve been friends for a long time.

“He basically told me not to leave school unless I felt I’d achieved all my goals, and I haven’t. I haven’t played in the Rose Bowl. And I’d like to win the Lombardi or Butkus award.

“And I want to earn my degree. A lot of athletes leave school early and say they’ll come back for their degree. But it’s really hard--you have so many demands on your time when you’re in the pros.

“Mark said the money would still be there next year. Some people told me I could have gone in the top 10 picks in the last draft, but maybe by staying I can go in the top five.

“So I decided to stay. I made up my mind before Coach Robinson was hired. I would have stayed even if Coach (Larry) Smith had come back.”

McGinest’s bid for an All-American season is starting 2 1/2 years after his nightmare spring of 1991.

McGinest and teammates Michael Jones and Jason Oliver were charged with misdemeanor counts of false imprisonment, battery and sexual battery against a USC student. In June of 1991, the three were acquitted of all charges.

This season, Robinson and Lindsey say they will line up McGinest all over the line of scrimmage.

“I’ll line up on either side, sometimes right over the center, and sometimes I’ll be in a three-point stance,” McGinest said.

“This is going to be a great defense for me. It’s like an NFL defense. They won’t know where I’ll be coming from.”

Said Robinson: “Most of the time he’ll be coming from the outside. . . . We want him going in there like Charles Haley and Lawrence Taylor.”

As for quarterbacks, McGinest has a number.

“I want 25 sacks this year,” he said. “That’s my goal.”

On the coaching staff’s belief that McGinest hasn’t consistently matched his talent with his effort, he agrees.

“They’re right,” he said. “It’s a mental thing, part of being young. It’s concentration, learning how to play hard on every play. Junior Seau told me to play every down like it’s my last.”