COLLEGE FOOTBALL / DAILY REPORT : USC : Morton Still Battling Illness

USC’s Johnnie Morton, the Pacific 10 Conference’s leading receiver, is still recovering from a flu-like illness that nearly kept him out of Saturday’s 22-17 victory over Washington.

Morton is expected to play Saturday against UCLA.

“That was his best performance of the season,” Coach John Robinson said Monday.

“We left it up to him Saturday. I told him: ‘If you feel bad, stay in bed at the hotel. It’s your call.’ He wanted to play. He was even worse Sunday, but he’s better today (Monday).”

Morton caught three passes for 45 yards Saturday, increasing his conference-record season receiving yardage to 1,278. The senior from Torrance has three Pac-10 records and eight USC records.

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Dwight McFadden, who began the season at starting tailback, was in a practice uniform for the first time in 12 weeks after suffering a broken ankle in the opener.

Robinson said McFadden would not play against UCLA, but might play in a bowl game.

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That was the real John Stonehouse in punt formation Saturday, in the waning seconds of the USC-Washington game, kicking coach Jeff Kearin said.

The sophomore from Loyola High has struggled this year, particularly at Notre Dame.

Saturday, however, he punted five times for a 49.4-yard average, including a 67-yarder with 55 seconds left. Afterward, Robinson called him “the star of the game.”

Last season, Stonehouse punted 80 times for a 38.7-yard average, but only 31 of his punts were returned, and for only a 3.8-yard average.

“John is all-world in the warm-ups,” Kearin said. “He just has a consistency problem in games. Talent-wise, he’s one of the best. But transferring it into the games--that’s what great punters do.”