WHO’S NO. 1? College football’s bowl rush...

WHO’S NO. 1? College football’s bowl rush is on, but the process of finding the nation’s best team is a messy one. Ask Todd Norman, a graduate of Ocean View High in Huntington Beach and Notre Dame lineman, about Saturday’s Cotton Bowl against Texas A&M;: “You want to talk about the game or the politics behind it?” . . . Norman’s beef is that the No. 4 Irish aren’t in line for the title, which likely will go to the Orange Bowl winner--Nebraska or Florida State--even though Notre Dame beat the latter. But he also knows his team blew its chance by losing to Boston College. “All we had to do was win our last two games,” he said, “and there wouldn’t be any questions.”

MONEY MATTERS: A loss to UCLA cost USC a Rose Bowl berth, but not money. True, UCLA will receive $6.5 million to play Wisconsin in Saturday’s Rose Bowl, USC $750,000 to play Utah in the Freedom Bowl on Thursday at Anaheim Stadium. . . . But UCLA must split its take with all the other Pacific 10 Conference members, including USC. Freedom Bowl income is not shared, so USC might earn more . “People say the Rose Bowl should end our deficit problems, but it doesn’t impact at all,” a UCLA spokesman said.

NEW GAME: Matt Werner, UCLA’s senior defensive tackle from Anaheim’s Esperanza High, wasn’t concerned when the Bruins lost their first two games. “We knew we had a good team,” he said. UCLA finished 8-3 to become the first Pac-10 team in history to start 0-2 and reach the Rose Bowl. . . . “I don’t think I’ve realized how big it is yet,” Werner said. “It might be our home stadium, but now it’s the real deal.”

MAY DAY: When quarterback Chad May left run-oriented Cal State Fullerton for Kansas State after the 1991 season, it was a leap of faith for both--May had shown only flashes of talent for a Titan program on its last legs, and Kansas State was historically awful. . . . But May is a key reason the Wildcats are 8-2-1 and making their second post-season appearance in 98 years in Wednesday’s Copper Bowl. A junior, May set numerous passing records and was named the Big Eight Conference’s top offensive newcomer.