SMELL OF ROSES: It’s big-game day today...

SMELL OF ROSES: It’s big-game day today for former Hart High football standouts Brian Allen and George Kase, who start for UCLA against arch-rival USC with the Rose Bowl berth on the line. Also for the Bruins: Wayne Cook (Newbury Park), Travis Collier (Palmdale), Chris Andersen (Montclair Prep) and Carrick O’Quinn (Agoura). . . . For USC: Terry Barnum (Alemany), Gerald Caruthers (Saugus) and Jason Keiderling (Reseda).

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AIR OF SUPERIORITY: Will L.A.-based comics joke about the crystal-pure air? Don’t, ahem, hold your breath, but state smog-measurers say this was the Valley’s cleanest air year since records began in the 1950s (B6). . . . OK, still not great, but aside from that smoky patch recently, it was better.

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AIDS ARGUMENT: That Lancaster funeral director who refuses to handle AIDS victims blames his troubles on a vendetta by AIDS activists who threatened to “see that my license was taken away.” State authorities told him he was within his rights, Jim Mumaw says--but it is federal law that protesters complain he is breaking (B10). . . . “Why dictate what risks a person has to take?” he asks.

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ANTELOPES REDUX: Antelope Valley High School football fans can crank up the celebrations: The Golden League Council has restored the Antelopes to the playoffs for the Southern Section championship (C14). . . . The council bounced the Antelopes earlier this week for fielding an academically ineligible player.

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INTENSIVE CARE: The renowned burn treatment center at Sherman Oaks Hospital, where many wildfire victims were treated, may need help itself. Triad Healthcare, which owns Sherman Oaks and West Valley hospitals, has defaulted on a $167-million bond backed by the state (B4). Commented a state official: “Is the patient in the intensive care unit?” No, “but the patient is in the operating room.” . . . The cure: more patients.