Hackett Knows the Score, and so Does This Columnist

And the winner of the Jim Murray Trophy is:

UCLA because of Cade McNown. This shouldn’t require much explanation. He’s making his 42nd start as the Bruins’ quarterback and his fourth in this rivalry. “I love to win this game,” says McNown, who could become the first quarterback to do so four times.

McNown loves to win any game. The Bruins have won a school-record 19 consecutive games, at least five because of his will. “When the game is on the line, he’s the guy who steps up and makes the play,” USC Coach Paul Hackett says. His USC counterpart, freshman Carson Palmer, is making his third start and was a spectator for the last two games of this rivalry. “He’s a rising star,” UCLA Coach Bob Toledo says. McNown has risen.

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USC because of Chris Claiborne. “I’d love to be his agent,” Toledo says of the USC linebacker. “He’s going to make a lot of money next year in the NFL.”

That could be wishful thinking because Claiborne is only a junior and will face the Bruins again, unless he turns pro. He’s considering it because offenses he has faced this season have taken the fun out of the game by running away from him. UCLA would be wise to do the same.

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UCLA because of injuries. The Trojans’ best wide receiver, R. Jay Soward, and running back, Chad Morton, are less than 100%. That will take pressure off UCLA’s defense, which needs all the help it can get.

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USC because upsets happen.

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UCLA because of coaching. Toledo and Hackett couldn’t be more familiar with each other’s philosophies. While on the USC staff at the same time for three years, Toledo and Hackett lived a block apart in Diamond Bar and commuted to work together. “Each day was like a coaching seminar,” Toledo says.

There is, however, no substitute for experience. This is Toledo’s third game as head coach in this rivalry, Hackett’s first. As a quarterback at UC Davis, Hackett said he was too emotional to be an effective starter. That hasn’t been an affliction for him as a coach. But if any game is going to test his nerves, this one will.

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USC because of Slocum’s Revenge. Texas A&M; Coach R.C. Slocum fired Toledo as his offensive coordinator after the 1993 season. That proved the best thing ever to happen to him because he landed at UCLA, first as an assistant and then as head coach. He, however, still longed for vindication and got it when the Bruins beat Slocum’s Aggies, 29-23, in last season’s Cotton Bowl.

Now it’s the Slocum family’s turn. R.C.’s son, Shawn, coaches USC’s special teams, which have blocked eight kicks this season, four of them punts. One is all it takes sometimes to alter a game’s course.

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UCLA because of Chris Sailer. The kicker was inconsistent at midseason because of a groin injury, but, since returning to his normal practice regimen has made seven consecutive field goals, including five in last week’s 36-24 victory over Washington.

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USC because of motivation. Seven in a row!#%%!!!

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UCLA because of motivation. The national championship.

“They get knocked into the Rose Bowl with a loss,” Hackett says. “When has that ever happened?” But although that’s an excellent consolation prize, the Bruins would still rather be smelling Tostitos in the Fiesta Bowl.

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USC because of its secondary.

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UCLA because it is too smart to challenge USC’s secondary. The Bruins will play the way they did in the second half against Washington, pounding the defense with the running game behind one of the nation’s best offensive lines.

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UCLA because it is the better team.

I have that on good authority, from Hackett. He said earlier that Oregon was better than UCLA. He was wrong. He has it right now, when he says, “UCLA may be the best team in the country.”

Some at his weekly news conference Tuesday thought he was doing a “Gloomy Gus” Henderson imitation when he spoke glowingly of the Bruins. Not so.

He didn’t say the Trojans couldn’t win. All he said was their chances are slim. “All you have to do is look at the statistics and, in most cases, it’s a clear-cut mismatch.” Hackett knows the score.

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UCLA 33, USC 24.

Randy Harvey can be reached at his e-mail address: randy.harvey@latimes.com