USC Still Running After McCullough

One last time, USC thought it had Saladin McCullough wrapped up, and then he was gone.

McCullough, the Oregon tailback from Pasadena Muir High, took a third-down pitch from quarterback Jason Maas in the second quarter, dropped it, caught it on the bounce, danced through a tangle of would-be tacklers and raced down the right sideline for a 45-yard gain to the USC 13-yard line.

Oregon ended up with only a field goal, but McCullough had made his mark in the Coliseum.

He finished with 113 yards in 18 carries, and is seeking to become the first player in Oregon history to average 100 yards rushing over his career.

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One of the Trojans’ answers to their up-and-down season has been . . . jumping up and down?

Coach John Robinson called the bouncing sideline huddles, which started the week before the Notre Dame game “a desperation gimmick.”

“It’s just to try to say, ‘Let’s go! Let’s go!’ ” he said. “We all go through ups and downs in energy. . . . Maybe it’s physical, maybe it’s emotional.”

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Robinson, a 1958 graduate of Oregon, received a call during the week from his former coach, Len Casanova, 92, who told him he’d be watching the game but couldn’t pull for him.

Casanova coached at Oregon for 16 seasons and was athletic director for four years, ending in 1970.

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Receiver Mike Bastianelli watched the game from the sideline in street clothes as he served the second game of a university-imposed suspension after admitting he was given improper assistance on a paper by an athletic department tutor two years ago.

A school spokesman said it has not been determined if Bastianelli will be held out of next week’s game against Washington.