COLLEGE FOOTBALL DAILY REPORT : ROSE BOWL : Barnett Begins a Very Busy Week

Northwestern Coach Gary Barnett is booked to appear on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” Friday, he’s shooting a fast-food commercial and has a party to attend with some TV folks on Saturday . . . oh, and he’s going to squeeze in a few practices, too.

Barnett and the Wildcats kicked off their pre-Rose Bowl schedule Monday with two practices at UC Irvine.

Both sessions were closed to reporters and spectators but that’s Barnett’s custom, not pre-bowl paranoia.

“They haven’t practiced for a month, so he just wanted to get back into the swing of things and get back to business,” Brad Hurlbut, Northwestern’s sports information director, said.

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Barnett didn’t give his players a curfew this week but will institute one next week, after they move to a hotel in Pasadena.

“I just trust them,” Barnett said. “These guys have been very poised and mature. I don’t need to stand over them like they’re in nursery school or junior high school. If I feel like we’re losing control, we can change things.”

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Northwestern’s sudden success has rekindled school spirit among its alumni, some of whom have sent Barnett congratulatory telegrams and messages.

Barnett said he had heard from Richard Benjamin, Paula Prentiss, Charlton Heston and Billy Crystal, among others, but he hasn’t had time to respond. Crystal isn’t an alum, but he sent Barnett an autographed copy of the script from his movie “City Slickers” after reading that Barnett had liked it.

Running back Darnell Autry, a theater major, is hoping to meet celebrities and do a little networking.

“Who knows, maybe I’ll be discovered,” he said.

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How momentous a season was it for Northwestern? The Wildcats virtually rewrote their record book, tying or breaking 79 individual and team records. No wonder they were to appear on a Wheaties cereal box, which was due to hit stores Monday.