COLLEGE FOOTBALL DAILY REPORT : UCLA : Redshirt Option Is Open to Hicks

UCLA tailback Skip Hicks continues to increase his workload in practice. But don’t expect to see him in a game for a while--if at all this season.

“I’m just trying to ease the rust off,” said Hicks, who returned to practice this week, one month after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery. “And I’m trying to take the load off the other backs so they don’t die out there.”

That load has been increased this week because of the unavailability of starting tailback Karim Abdul-Jabbar, recovering from a deep bruise in the lower back.

“I’m not expecting to play for two to three weeks,” Hicks said.

The Bruins have given Hicks, a junior, the option of redshirting. It’s a decision he won’t have to make until he’s ready to return, probably after five games.

“If they are 5-0 and ask me to come back,” Hick said, “I figure they can probably go 12-0 without me.”

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Coach Terry Donahue is pessimistic about Abdul-Jabbar’s chances of playing Saturday at the Rose Bowl against Oregon but he will wait until the last minute to make a decision. . . . Right guard Matt Soenksen is doubtful because of a concussion.