Walters’ Career in Jeopardy

USC Coach John Robinson said Tuesday that there is a chance suspended senior tailback Shawn Walters has played his last game of college football.

“I think his only chance to come back now is if he can prove his innocence,” Robinson said of Walters, who served almost a full season’s suspension for his involvement with an agent and is again under investigation by USC.

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USC could play either Nebraska or Alabama in its 1999 football season opener at the Coliseum.

“They’re both interested,” said Associate Athletic Director Daryl Gross. “If we wind up with Nebraska, we might get them six times in an 11-year period.”

College football’s playoff format begins in 1998, with a yet-to-be-identified poll scheduled to place two teams in a national championship game.

“We’re fairly sure that strength-of-schedule will be factored into the poll,” Gross said.