Unrequited Love : College football: Former Washington State receiver misses Pac-10 and its trappings but feels comfortable in new surroundings at Cal State Northridge.

Just as Chris Love is hitting his stride with his new football team, his former team comes to town, reminding him of what could have been.

Love, Cal State Northridge’s leading receiver, will get ready for tonight’s home game against Western New Mexico shortly after Washington State finishes its game against USC at the Coliseum.

This time two years ago, Love was playing for Washington State. He left in the spring of 1994 because of a dispute with an assistant coach. But most of the time Love spent in Pullman was pleasant, and visions of the Pac-10 Conference still dance in his head.

“Every night that I think about it, I say to myself, ‘I’m happy with what I’ve got now, but I know in my heart I wish I was a Cougar,’ ” Love said.

However, his feelings are clearly mixed.

“Actually,” he said, “I hope USC kicks Washington State’s [tail].”

Love is 6 feet 4, 200 pounds, fast and sure-handed. He has 16 catches for 200 yards, including an acrobatic 46-yard reception against Northern Arizona. He caught 10 passes last week against Southwest Texas State, finally performing at the level Northridge’s first-year coaching staff had expected.

“We came in and saw this big prototype receiver,” said Jeff Kearin, Northridge receivers coach. “He’s a tall, fast, heavy, J.J. Stokes-type. We had huge expectations.”

Love was a four-year starter at Long Beach Poly High. He took recruiting trips to Colorado, Washington, Florida State, Memphis and Washington State. Love was prepared to go to Colorado but he missed a qualifying Scholastic Assessment Test score by one point, he said.

Love played two years for Long Beach City College before signing with Washington State.

As a junior in 1993, Love played in all 11 Cougar games, mostly on special teams. He did not catch a pass.

The incident that pushed him away from the school allegedly occurred the following spring. After a meeting, Love and receivers coach Mike Levenseller had a confrontation during which, Love said, the coach used a racial epithet.

Levenseller vehemently denies Love’s claim.

Love, who says he never had a problem with Levenseller other than on that occasion, said he decided to transfer because, “if [Levenseller] can do it once, he can do it again.”

Washington State Coach Mike Price defended his program against Love’s accusations.

“[Love] was a good player,” Price said. “We didn’t want him to quit. I don’t think he was treated unfairly and he shouldn’t have any complaints. He should just get on with his life and I’ll get on with mine.”

After Love left Washington State, he found Northridge through a former high school coach who knew former Matador assistant Dale Bunn.

Love came to Northridge without a scholarship last fall. He used his redshirt year and paid his expenses by performing odd jobs.

“I had to cut yards and do this and that,” Love said.

Coach Dave Baldwin and his staff took over the program in the spring. Soon after, Love was given a partial scholarship.

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In order to help the inexperienced Matadors rise from the ashes of last year’s disastrous 3-7 season, Baldwin needed players like Love, who had Pac-10 ability but for some reason fell through the cracks and onto the Northridge campus.

“We were happy as clams [to find him],” Kearin said.

Baldwin and his staff didn’t see Love play until preseason drills began in August, but they were impressed when they finally got him on the field.

“We saw one great week,” Baldwin said, “and then he got hurt.”

Love injured his left knee, setting his progress back several weeks. He missed a week of contact. More importantly, though, he missed a week of integration into Baldwin’s new pass-oriented offense.

After dropping several passes in the first game and dropping off the depth chart for the second, Love rebounded. First came his spectacular catch against Northern Arizona. Then he exploded with 10 catches last week.

Love is now at ease, not just with the offense, but with the team.

“This is where I’m comfortable,” he said. “Maybe we don’t have the luxuries like we did with the Cougars. We don’t have the locker room, all the up-to-date stuff. . . . But I’ve been surviving all my life, so I’ll survive here too, with a team that I enjoy being around.”