Barnum Says Unexpected Coverage Won’t Affect Trojans

The USC football team probably didn’t need this:

A cover shot on Sports Illustrated’s Aug. 28 edition with the pronouncement, “Keyshawn Johnson will lead storied Southern Cal back to No. 1.”

Cover status on this publication has long been noted for bringing misfortune, whether or not by coincidence. It has come to be known as the Sports Illustrated jinx.

Example: the magazine predicted Arizona would win the national championship in football last season. The Wildcats lost to Utah in the Freedom Bowl.

USC, which has won 12 national championships, the last in 1978, could have done without Sports Illustrated’s vote of confidence.

The Trojans were 3-8 under Larry Smith in 1991 and have gradually climbed back to prominence with a 22-13-2 record over three seasons, the past two under John Robinson.

But Alemany High alumnus Terry Barnum, a returning starter at fullback, said USC won’t be hindered by the prediction.

“It only bothers you if you allow it,” Barnun said. “If we think we’ll be jinxed, we will be jinxed.”

Perhaps the Trojans can make like the Florida State football team in 1993 or the UCLA basketball team last season and make good on SI’s national championship prognostication.

But for Barnum, a 5-foot-10, 200-pound senior, and his teammates, this kind of publicity is a surprise.

“Honestly, I thought, ‘Wow,’ ” Barnum said. “The second thought was, ‘Unfortunately, Sports Illustrated doesn’t pick the national champion.’ But it’s nice to have the sportswriters and the polls on your side. Sports Illustrated is a big publication, and we’re grateful.”

If Barnum could vote, however, he wouldn’t have picked the Trojans No. 1. Other polls have listed them between fifth and 10th.

“That is about right in my mind, when you take into consideration who we have coming back, our recruiting class and how we will do later in the year,” Barnum said.

“But we have to do it on the field. We have to prove it by winning each week.”

USC has 13 returning starters and a strong recruiting class that includes Westlake’s Billy Miller, one of the most hotly recruited receivers in the country last year.

But playing well at the end of the season and getting to the Rose Bowl is what matters most to Barnum. The Trojans lost to UCLA the past four years and haven’t beaten Notre Dame since 1982. In addition, the Pacific 10 Conference is one of the toughest in the country.

“I don’t think anybody’s going to give us anything,” Barnum said. “You’ll see it come down to the last couple weeks of the season and three or four teams with a chance to go to the roses. It’ll be a fight to the end.”

After switching from cornerback to fullback in 1994, Barnum carried the ball only four times for five yards. Blocking and catching passes were his specialties. He was second on the team to Johnson in receptions with 34 for 302 yards and caught three touchdown passes.

Barnum said more can be expected this season from both him and USC, which finished 8-3-1 and routed Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl, 55-14.

“I worked probably harder than I had my whole life this summer to get prepared,” he said. “I needed it to get me through the year. When we start running into teams like Notre Dame and Washington late in the season, I have to be at the top of my game and going at full speed and not get too banged up.”

Barnum, however, hasn’t made any personal goals and probably won’t discuss them when he does.

“Honestly, I haven’t taken a chance to think about what I will do,” he said. “When I go home in the evening I look in the mirror and ask myself, ‘Did I get better today?’ And those are answers I really want to keep them to myself, because the most important person to please is myself.”

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With the defection of the Rams and the Raiders, the only game in town is college football. And for UCLA’s opener against Miami at 5 p.m. today, Bruin quarterback Ryan Fien (Royal) expects the spotlight to be much brighter.

“I’ve heard we’re going to get a lot more coverage and a lot more fan support,” Fien said. “That would be nice. We play in such a great stadium, the Rose Bowl, we have 65,000-70,000 there and it still looks half empty.

“We all laugh over that. Most of the campuses have 40,000-seat stadiums and it looks packed.”

Sophomore Shaun Williams of Crespi will start his first game at free safety for the Bruins. Senior George Kase of Hart, a two-year starter at nose guard, will rotate at his new position, defensive tackle.