STRONG IMPRESSION

Frank Strong was a long way from home--and a long way from the end zone--when he got the ball for USC on first and 10 from the Trojans’ 20-yard line Saturday in Tallahassee.

One quick cut, and he was off. For a few moments, it was as if he was bent on carrying that ball all the way back to Stockton.

When he finally was hauled down at Florida State’s seven-yard line, the freshman tailback had made a 73-yard run. It was USC’s longest run in two seasons and the longest by a USC freshman since Chad Morton did the same thing against Oregon State in 1996.

“I got the ball, saw the seam open and ran as hard as I could,” Strong said. “It was like I was surprised I was still going. Then it was just daylight.”

He saw the goal line, but with a couple of Seminoles closing in, he couldn’t quite make it.

“I did, but I felt my legs get heavier and heavier,” he said. “I was like, ‘Please, please, please!’ ”

That run in the Coliseum would have set off pandemonium. At Doak Campbell Stadium, there was a pocket of celebration and a mass of concern, with USC about to score to cut the lead to 20-10 in the third quarter.

“It felt real good to be 3,000 miles across the country knowing I had family and friends back here watching--and 75,000 people there in the stadium who were against me and 5,000 in the stadium for me,” Strong said.

A surprise standout from Stockton’s Franklin High, Strong already had eclipsed the more renowned Southern California running backs in USC’s freshman class--Sultan McCullough from Pasadena Muir and Miguel Fletcher from Mission Hills Alemany--as well as Jabari Jackson, a junior whose name used to be mentioned along with O.J. Simpson’s because they both played at City College of San Francisco.

How many spots up the depth chart did that one run take Strong?

“About 73 spots,” Coach Paul Hackett quipped.

Officially, Strong, listed at 6 feet 1 and 215 pounds, remains third, behind Morton and Petros Papadakis, who qualifies as USC’s “power” runner since Malaefou MacKenzie was lost to knee surgery.

Unofficially, Strong looks like No. 2, except in short-yardage or goal-line situations. With Morton nursing a back strain and Hackett eager to limit Morton’s carries in hopes of keeping the slight, slippery sprinter sound all season, the opportunities are there.

“I like our depth,” Hackett said. “‘As long as Chad can go, as long as Chad is healthy, he’s our first choice.

“Right now I’m not concerned, but by the same token there’s a lot of pounding ahead. We need to be a little cautious. That’s another reason to use Petros and Frank Strong. If Chad gets more than 20-25 carries a game, we do have an issue. I’m a little concerned, but not where I’m nervous.”

Strong wasn’t nervous when he arrived at USC. In fact, he was prepared to sit out this season.

“I really thought I was going to redshirt, with all the high-profile athletes I knew were coming to ‘SC,” he said.

Instead, McCullough, a 2,000-yard rusher as a senior in high school and one of the top prep sprinters in the nation, is the one who is redshirting.

Strong’s statistics as a high school senior were strong--almost 1,500 yards and 39 touchdowns on offense and more than 100 tackles as a linebacker. (He also kicked, punted, and returned kickoffs for a 10-0 team.)

But recruiters don’t know the Central California schools as well as the Los Angeles-area schools--as Hackett puts it, he understands what numbers like that mean at Long Beach Poly or Santa Ana Mater Dei, but couldn’t be sure about Franklin in Stockton.

In any case, Strong was a John Robinson recruit, with assistant coach Mike Wilson doing the groundwork. When Robinson was fired, Strong wavered, even telling Nebraska he was going there instead. But after Hackett was hired, Strong came to USC.

“He’s made great progress, and in the last two games, quite a bit,” said Hue Jackson, the running back coach. “He’s still learning. He has a ways to go, but he’s getting better each and every game.

“One thing is learning to pass protect. It’s not just running, you have to pass protect.”

You also have to learn to hang on to the ball, and Strong fumbled twice in six carries against the Seminoles, one of the fumbles leading to a Florida State field goal.

When USC hit the practice field this week, the running backs were doing extra drills in the no-fumbling department.

“Falling down with the ball, and keeping your arm tight to your side,” Strong said. “Then a buddy drill where somebody’s behind you trying to strip the ball.

“There’s a big difference between college and high school. In college, they try to go for the ball. In high school, they’re just trying to tackle you.”

Strong believes the problem can be overcome.

“It was trying to make that extra effort,” he said. “I knew better, but I was trying too hard to reach a first down and things like that.”

With 112 yards in 12 carries this season, Strong ranks as USC’s second-leading rusher behind Morton, who averages 87.5 yards a game and needs to average a little more than 81 over the final eight regular-season games to reach 1,000 this season. (R. Jay Soward, always a threat on a reverse, is third with 93 yards, and Papadakis is fourth with 62 yards in 25 carries.)

USC has Morton for speed, Papadakis for a little power and Strong somewhere in between.

“He’s a fast runner, has great balance and vision,” Jackson said. “Chad has all that and a little more. Petros is our bruiser.

“A run like Frank made does him a lot of good. I’m sure he has a lot of confidence in himself now, and believes he can make another run like that.”

Strong hopes it means he gets more chances.

“Hopefully it just shows the coaches what I can do, even though I had those two fumbles,” he said. “It’s a coaches’ decision. What happens, happens. I have to take my losses--or take my gains.”