COLLEGE FOOTBALL DAILY REPORT : ROSE BOWL : USC Sizes Up Morton Differently

Chad Morton won’t play on Jan. 1 because he’s sitting out his freshman year, but USC’s smallest and fastest player is putting the Trojans’ 16 extra Rose Bowl practices to good use.

Morton, listed generously on the roster as 5 feet 8 and 165 pounds, has been impressive in USC’s practices as the scout team tailback. Twice he has run through the Trojans’ first defense, bouncing off tacklers like a pinball.

He’s the younger brother of Johnnie Morton, former USC All-American receiver now with the Detroit Lions.

“He’s been really impressive,” said offensive coordinator Mike Riley. “Obviously we’re going to have to find a place for him in the offense next year.”

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USC’s sports information staff has been urging the media to refer to the university as USC, or Southern California, but not Southern Cal, as is common in the East and Midwest.

Perhaps a better place to have started the campaign would have been USC’s own bookstore. A recent two-minute inspection there turned up six officially licensed items of USC garb with the school identified as Southern Cal.