ROSE BOWL / OREGON vs. PENN STATE, Monday : Oregon’s Top Receiver Listed as Questionable

Oregon Coach Rich Brooks said starting wide receiver Cristin McLemore is “questionable, if not doubtful” for Monday’s game against Penn State after the junior from Huntington Beach was sidelined for Wednesday’s workout at Citrus College. McLemore, whose uncle, Mark McLemore, is a former Angel, aggravated an ankle injury in practice Tuesday. He twisted the ankle in the sixth game of the season and has not completely recovered.

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McLemore’s understudy is Patrick Johnson, a freshman from Redlands. After playing only one season of football in high school, he was considerably more accomplished in track. He finished third in the 100 meters and the 200 in last summer’s U.S. Junior Championships and ran the third leg for the United States’ 400-meter relay team that won a silver medal in the World Junior Championships at Lisbon, Portugal.

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The Ducks are scheduled to visit Universal City today after going to Disneyland on Tuesday and Lawry’s for the Beef Bowl on Wednesday. But even if the outings might be considered distractions, Brooks said they beat the alternative: not earning a berth in the Rose Bowl.

“This is what we coach for,” he said. “In our conference, anyway, it doesn’t get any better than the Rose Bowl, something that was a long time in coming for Oregon.”