COLLEGE FOOTBALL / DAILY REPORT : USC : Arizona Gets Into Trojans’ Name Game

USC has taken some good-natured abuse lately for the item in its media guide, asking media outlets to refer to the school as USC and not “Southern Cal.”

“It’s like calling San Francisco ‘Frisco,’ ” the item read in part.

Thursday, USC sports information director Tim Tessalone received the following fax from an old friend, Butch Henry, Arizona associate athletic director:

“In abbreviated references to the athletics teams of the University of Arizona, the following are preferred:

“UA, UofA, Arizona, Wildcats and Cats. Please do not use Arizona State, ASU, Zona, Zonies [it’s like calling California ‘Fornia’].”

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Coach John Robinson says it isn’t out of the question that his team could become a two-quarterback team this season with Brad Otton and Kyle Wachholtz.

If it happens, it wouldn’t be the first time for the Trojans.

In 1962, Pete Beathard and Bill Nelsen shared the position. The same thing happened in 1972, with Mike Rae and Pat Haden.

Results: USC won the national championship both years, and some still call the ’72 Trojans the best college team ever.

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Starting senior center Jeremy Hogue, bidding to become the first USC football player to earn a Rhodes scholarship since since Haden (1975), will formally apply in October. He likened his chances to that of being a first-round NFL draft choice.

“They take 32 out of around 2,000 applicants, so I’d feel like a first- round pick if I make it,” he said.

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Freshman defensive tackle Marc Matock won the team’s weightlifting championship Thursday night. Defending champion Norberto Garrido withdrew because of a sore shoulder.

Matock bench-pressed 415 pounds, shy of the 450 Garrido lifted last year to beat Tony Boselli’s 435.

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The Coliseum’s new $6-million press box is expected to be completed for USC’s Sept 9 home opener against San Jose State. . . . A familiar name appears on the USC roster: MORTON. It’s freshman Chad Morton, a 5-foot-8, 165-pound defensive back from Torrance. He’s the younger brother of Johnnie Morton, who accounted for a school-record 1,520 receiving yards in 1993.