Trojan Happiness Arrives on Schedule

Fire Lou Holtz!

(I’m kidding. I’m kidding.)

Honestly, I am very happy today for everybody at the School Formerly Known as Southern Cal. Good things happen to those who wait.

Enjoy it while you can. The Trojans open next season Sept. 6 against Florida State, then travel Oct. 11 to Arizona State. These teams currently have a record of 22-0.

A week later, on Oct. 18, USC has a date at Notre Dame. But don’t worry. SC never saw the day it couldn’t beat a Bob Davie team.

I saw two games Saturday that represented everything great about college football. First came Florida versus Florida State, No. 1 against No. 2. Then came USC versus Notre Dame, rival against rival.

Nobody played for a paycheck. Guys played for love of school, teammate, coach, town, even state. They played because it mattered, to the rest of their lives.

I tuned my TV to the first game for one more look at Danny Wuerffel, the quarterback from Florida. My friends from the Downtown Athletic Club in New York keep sending cards, urging me: “Please Send in Your 1996 Heisman Ballot at Once!”

To vote for Wuerffel, the favorite, before his games against Florida State and Alabama seemed premature to me. It’s like voting for Miss America after the swimsuit part, but before the talent.

Mainly, I saw Wuerffel flat on his back. He got gang-tackled by everyone from Florida State except Burt Reynolds.

I still might vote for him, however. He showed guts, under great pressure. And I really like that name, Wuerffel, which will come in handy if I get a puppy for Christmas.

Meanwhile, at a very old stadium 3,000 miles from Tallahassee, there was a game for the ages. What a night for Rodney Sermons, Delon Washington, Brad Otton, Sammy Knight and the rest of the Troy soldiers.

“We’re 6-6! We’re 6-6!”

OK, so it doesn’t have the same ring as that chant at Florida State. What the heck. You take your thrills where you can find them.

Here are a few memories for USC’s football faithful to hold sacred forever, from Saturday night’s 27-20 keeper at the Coliseum:

--Notre Dame lost to a player named Sermons, sent to USC by Bishop Amat. Let me hear an “Amen.”

--Who won this game? Washington won this game, with 1:50 to play, with his run for a two-point conversion. Those was the longest three yards of Delon’s life. He dragged half the Notre Dame student body with him.

--If overtime hadn’t been invented, SC’s last win over Notre Dame would still be 1982’s.

--On Washington’s touchdown, guard Chris Brymer threw a block that wiped out several Irish players, several Trojan players, several tuba players, a song girl, a goal post, a stoplight at Figueroa and King, a bus bench and a ’92 Ford Bronco on the freeway.

--Friday was Brymer’s birthday.

--SC’s offensive line, coached by Doug Smith, blew open huge holes all night.

--Last Monday, Smith turned 40.

--Mark Cusano, who knocked down the game’s last pass, is “a quick, instinctive linebacker with a fine future,” John Robinson said . . . before the season.

--I have seen players dive across the goal line. I have seen players plunge across the goal line. Chris Miller could be the first guy I ever saw sit across the goal line.

--M.U.P. (Most Unappreciated Player): Jim Wren, USC punter. He’s all-conference in my book.

--Prentice Hill’s penalty for grabbing a face mask almost killed USC near the end. But nearer the end, Hill made a big, big play on defense. He who laughs last, Prentice.

--Late in the game, Darrell Russell spent so much time in the Irish quarterback’s face, he could have used that gold helmet for a mirror.

Did SC get a few breaks?

Maybe, but SC deserved a few breaks.

I trust John Robinson’s coming back now. He could be the only coach in America, actually looking forward to playing Florida State.