SIDELINES : For a TV Taping, Pierce’s Norton Didn’t Have to Be Coached

Former Raider All-Pro linebacker Rod Martin, who was hired earlier this week as an assistant at Pierce College, wasn’t the only NFL star who Brahma Coach Bill Norton rubbed elbows with last year while shooting television commercials.

“I taped Emmitt Smith’s ankles,” Norton said. “He was asking if anyone knew how to do it and I said yes. He said, ‘You must be a real coach.’ ”

The two worked in a spot for a soft-drink maker. Norton also was in a shoe commercial with Barry Sanders, Jerry Rice and Drew Bledsoe.

But Norton wasn’t done there.

He also was a technical advisor for a football video game that was recently released.

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No welcome wagon: Although playing three games at No. 12-ranked Texas this weekend is a considerable challenge in its own right, the Cal State Northridge baseball team considers it primarily a preview of coming attractions.

“We wanted one big-time regional-type atmosphere on the road before the start of conference play,” Coach Mike Batesole said. “There may not be a tougher place to be on the road than Texas.”

The fiercely partisan Longhorn crowds that should exceed 5,000 will give the Matadors (3-0) a taste of what to expect during Western Athletic Conference series in hostile stadiums at Hawaii and Fresno State.

Playing in Austin also gives the Matadors their only chance to play on artificial turf before the games at Hawaii.

However, Hawaii-like weather is not expected. Temperatures in Austin hovered around 20 degrees with freezing rain Thursday, closing the university. Similar weather is expected today before a break over the weekend.

If today’s game is postponed, the teams will play a doubleheader Saturday or Sunday.

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Meeting of the minds: Some of the region’s basketball coaches got together recently at Santa Monica.

It was raining, so a trip to the beach wasn’t the reason.

Instead, Northridge’s Pete Cassidy, Grant High’s Howie Levine and Reseda High’s Dave Enowitz were under the same roof in Santa Monica to see a junior college game.

Levine and Enowitz were there to see former Grant player Ronald Patterson, who plays for Santa Monica College.

And Cassidy?

One player piqued his interest, but Cassidy couldn’t say which one because of recruiting restrictions.

Here’s betting it was Damon Ollie, the former North Hollywood High star, who plays for Santa Monica.

If so, Ollie put on a good show.

He scored 21 points and had 16 rebounds--both game highs--as Santa Monica defeated Valley, 74-63, in a Western State Conference South Division matchup.

Foreign surprise: The Northridge men’s track and field team received a nice addition to its jump corps last month when Edward Yamoah informed Coach Don Strametz that he wanted to compete for the Matadors.

Yamoah, a freshman from Zimbabwe, told Strametz that he had a personal best of 23 feet 7 inches in the long jump, but Strametz was skeptical about the mark until Yamoah produced a newspaper clipping supporting his claim.

“You have people who come into the office all the time and say that they’ve done this and that and then you never hear from them again,” Strametz said. “But he appears to be legitimate. And he’s a great kid.”

Stats

Dmitri Young, a former standout hitter at Rio Mesa High, won the Mexican League batting title with a .346 average. Young, a first-round pick of the St. Louis Cardinals in 1991, also had five home runs and 34 runs batted in 163 at-bats.

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When the Northridge women’s basketball team made 51% of its shots in an 81-61 victory over Cal State Los Angeles on Wednesday night, it snapped a 43-game streak in which the Matadors had shot less than 50%.

Quotebook

“I’ve never seen them practice or play like that. It looked like they weren’t coached, but just so you know, we coach.”

--Northridge men’s volleyball Coach John Price after his team’s three-game loss to UCLA on Tuesday.

Things to Do

The Pepperdine baseball team plays host to California today at 2 p.m. in a game matching former area high school pitchers. Pepperdine sophomore left-hander Randy Wolf (El Camino Real) faces junior right-hander Keith Evans (Crespi). Cal is ranked fifth and Pepperdine seventh by Collegiate Baseball magazine.

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Contributing: Mike Bresnahan, Fernando Dominguez, Jeff Fletcher, Irene Garcia, Steve Henson, John Ortega.