Trojans Seek Higher Gear

Now, let’s see, can you think of another football team that might have its season sullied by Stanford?

Only a week after the Cardinal summoned the strength to nearly defeat then Fiesta Bowl-bound UCLA, tossing the Bruins’ quartile rating and its defense into a tailspin, here come the USC Trojans.

USC, of course, isn’t gearing for a national-championship run today at Stanford Stadium, merely a strong finish, a good bowl bid, and maybe some powerful momentum heading into Year 2 of the Carson Project.

A victory over the 1-7 Cardinal today would qualify the Trojans (6-3, 4-2) for a bowl, right on time for next weekend’s bye, then the frenetic finishing kick of UCLA and Notre Dame.

A defeat today could set the stage for a possible 6-6 season, and no bowl, since bowl teams must have above-.500 records.

“We’ve come too far to stumble,” USC Coach Paul Hackett said this week. “We’ve got a chance to have a great finish to a season. I think everyone understands that. Now we’ve got to go out and do it.”

Hackett did concede he was concerned that his team might focus too deeply on the “monster” games ahead, and on the prospect of a week of rest.

But his cautionary words to the players have been backed up by the game tapes, loud and in scary detail, of Stanford going into overtime (and losing) at Arizona State two weeks ago and the shuddering performance against UCLA, which needed a Cardinal fumble at the goal line to preserve its victory.

“They almost won the UCLA game and were close in the Arizona State game,” said tailback Chad Morton, who is expected to play but won’t start today because of a sore ankle.

“We can’t overlook them just looking at UCLA and Notre Dame, otherwise this team could sneak in and beat us.”

More incentive: Stanford has beaten USC in two of the last three games at Stanford Stadium, and had a huge comeback victory, 24-20, in 1996.

The Trojans, meanwhile, haven’t played beyond the regular season since the 1996 Rose Bowl--or won more than six games--but might be able to line up a Jan. 1 date with a victory today and an upset or two in the final two games.

“Hey, I haven’t been to a bowl game since my freshman year,” senior receiver Mike Bastianelli said. “We have to get this. This is the key.

“To keep us rolling into UCLA--[Stanford is] a bump in the road we have to get over--so we can just relax, take a week off, prepare for UCLA and after that it’s Notre Dame.”

USC also is undergoing a transition--continuing the turning over of the offense to freshman quarterback Carson Palmer, who sparkled in his first collegiate start last weekend against Washington.

The Cardinal defense has been porous most of the season, and even after last weekend’s relatively stout performance against Cade McNown and UCLA, ranks last in the conference in total defense, scoring defense, rushing defense and--thanks mainly to Stanford quarterback Todd Husak’s 419-yard outing last Saturday--is ahead of only UCLA in pass defense.

The worry at Stanford is that the accumulating heartbreaks might be wearing on the players.

“If you’re counting the wounds that have been inflicted, there probably really have been three of those that we felt like any one of those, one play here or there could have made the difference and allowed us to win our last three games,” Cardinal Coach Tyrone Willingham said.

“But I’m pleased with this team because it’s a team that, going into last Saturday’s ballgame, had taken its licks and had managed to find a way to keep bringing itself back and fighting and moving forward and trying to improve.”

This is a team that lost by 35 to Oregon, lost to San Jose State (!) to open the season, and lost by seven at home to Oregon State only last month.

But after its quick starts at Arizona State and UCLA--and a quick start that led to an upset of North Carolina early in the season--Stanford clearly has the talent to get USC into a firefight.

“I think it’s a much more confident Stanford team right now than it’s been at any time of the year,” Hackett said. “I think they’re very dangerous. I’ve said it to the team, I’ve said it everywhere.”

TODAY

USC at Stanford

3:30 p.m.

Stanford Stadium

Channel 9

XTRA (690)

HE’S PLEASED: Paul Hackett likes Carson Palmer’s growth. Page 7