COLLEGE FOOTBALL / DAILY REPORT : UCLA : Jordan Says He’s Not Back to Normal

When last seen in action on a football field, All-American receiver Kevin Jordan had just caught a pass against the USC Trojans, only to be hit by two tacklers, buckling his right knee.

Jordan underwent surgery to repair a partially torn ligament in that knee in February and has been working to make it back to the field ever since.

With one week to go until the season opener against Miami, he’s just about there.

“It’s been a long time,” Jordan said after a scrimmage Saturday at Spaulding Field. “I still feel myself behind. I don’t feel normal. But I’ve just got to be patient.”

Coach Terry Donahue has tried to expose Jordan to a minimal amount of contact. Donahue kept the receiver out of last week’s intrasquad scrimmage at the Rose Bowl. The coach admitted he had his doubts whether Jordan would even be ready for the season opener until the last few days.

Jordan conceded that he had his doubts about how much punishment the knee could take.

“I’m more confident about getting hit now,” he said, “than I was three weeks ago.”

But until he gets tackled, he won’t know for sure. “I guess we’ll just have to test it out during the game.”

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When players are late for meetings or practice, they are forced to run as punishment.

Saturday, the assistant coaches, tied up in a meeting, were late. The players insisted that the coaches run.

And they did.

“We’re a team,” Jordan said. “We’re late, we run. They’re late, they run.”