COLLEGE FOOTBALL / DAILY REPORT : USC : More Than One Way to Handle 515 Pounds

The first time Washington tight end Ernie Conwell bench-pressed 515 pounds was nearly the last time he lifted anything.

The barbell slipped out of his grip one day last February, slamming into his chest and breaking two ribs.

“It felt like a car hit me,” said Conwell, a 6-foot-3, 240-pounder.

Husky Coach Jim Lambright said, “If an average size guy had 515 pounds fall on his chest, he’d probably be dead.”

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USC Coach John Robinson has used such terms as acutely painful to describe the loss to Notre Dame last Saturday. At one point last season, he said the most painful result of his USC years was the 21-21 tie with Stanford in 1979. That cost the Trojans the national championship.

Asked this week if the 38-10 loss to Notre Dame was in that league, he said, “I don’t compare disappointments.”