It Looks as if Fox Is Back in Hunt

Quarterback, tight end, linebacker, holder.

Sometimes it seems as if John Fox has done everything for the Trojans but ride the horse.

He has gone from the spotlight to obscurity and back again--from starting quarterback in 1997 to scrubbini tight end in ’98 to the verge of starting at quarterback again as USC looks to him as an emblem of a never-say-die spirit on a team that has lost four games in a row.

“One thing about John Fox is he’s a competitor, and if that meant he had to play center, he’d play center,” offensive coordinator Hue Jackson said. “I’m very excited for that young man. It’s like he’s come full circle.”

When Fox jogged onto the field in the third quarter against Cal last week, it was back to the future for USC.

He was the quarterback who lost the job to Mike Van Raaphorst who lost the job to Carson Palmer who broke his collarbone in September, making Van Raaphorst the starter again.

In the meantime, Fox became a special-teams mainstay who was the holder on 10 perfect kicks in a 62-7 victory over Hawaii, then played middle linebacker and third-string quarterback on consecutive plays in the waning minutes after Hawaii gave up the ball on downs.

After that, the senior is more of a leader to the Trojans now than he was when he started at quarterback as a sophomore.

“We have a lot of respect for him, playing all those positions,” tailback Chad Morton said. “He stayed focused and tried to help the team win in any way possible.

“Even when he was just holding the ball on kicks, he was trying to do it the best he possibly could. That’s the kind of guy you want on your team.”

That’s the kind of emotional spark USC Coach Paul Hackett is grasping for as he prepares Fox to play Saturday against Arizona State, although to keep the Sun Devils guessing he has delayed announcing whether Fox will get the nod ahead of Van Raaphorst, who passed for a school-record 415 yards only two weeks ago but is 1-4 as the starter.

“We both want a victory so bad, we don’t care who plays,” Fox said.

Fox was so giddy to be practicing with the first team this week, he could hardly contain himself.

“I can’t feel my toes,” he said. “I feel like a little kid.

“It’s sad to say after a loss, but a little part of me just came alive.”

To understand Fox the football player, it’s necessary to talk to his position coaches.

Sit back, this may take a while. There have been a lot of them.

“I think he’s reincarnated. He’s a throwback to the old two-way players,” said Larry Petroff, who coached the tight ends last season and was as stunned as anyone else to see the incumbent starting quarterback switch positions in training camp.

Fox made a quick read after his first look at the arm of freshman Carson Palmer and the logjam of quarterbacks around him and asked to move.

“It was my idea. It’s permanent. I’ll never play quarterback again,” he said that day. “Tight end will give me a chance to hit and run around.”

It was a decision Fox made without even telling his family.

“I’d come off a year of starting and playing, and Coach [Hackett] came in and it seemed like he wanted to start over. Or that’s the way I felt, I don’t know why, or if he felt that way,” Fox said.

“He was honest. He told me I wasn’t going to play. And at that time there were three other quarterbacks--Jason Thomas was here, so was Carson, so was Mike.” (Quincy Woods, another quarterback, also switched positions.)

“We knew Carson was going to play, and I was the oldest guy,” Fox said.

He worked his way up to third-string tight end but never played much there.

“But he really helped the other tight ends because he had such an in-depth understanding of the offense,” Petroff said. “If you know John, he just wanted to get on the field and contribute. It doesn’t matter how or what he’s doing, he just wants to help the football team.”

Watching wasn’t easy.

“You spend a lot of time preparing, but if that’s your role on the team, you have to accept that,” he said. “You have to swallow your pride. It was frustrating, but it should eat at you. If not, you’re not a competitor.”

By last spring, Fox changed positions again, when he became a linebacker as well as USC’s emergency quarterback.

“He’s a tough competitor. Fiery,” said Shawn Slocum, the linebacker and special teams coach.

“We wanted to get John on the field any way possible. We started with punt coverage, kickoff returns, then moved him to linebacker. He had to learn to take on blockers and make tackles. I think he did well.”

Fox was No. 3 on the depth chart at middle linebacker--and No. 2 in the nickel defense.

“He understood what the quarterback was trying to do in the passing game, and that made him effective,” Slocum said.

On special teams, Fox’s most valuable role is as the holder on field goals and extra points.

“That’s one of those hidden positions on the football team people don’t give its due credit, and it’s a critical position,” Slocum said. “He’s an excellent holder.”

When Palmer got hurt, Fox’s linebacking career was over. He was needed as backup quarterback, a heartbeat away from starting again.

With the Trojans in dire straits because of their losing streak and turnover-prone Van Raaphorst struggling to evade Cal’s pass rush, Fox got his chance.

“Another quarterback comes in, it brought a surprise,” Morton said. “I think we’ve all been replaced at one time another this season. No position is solid.”

Turning to Fox seems something of a desperate ploy, but these are desperate times for USC.

“He’s rusty,” Jackson acknowledged. “But he’s shaking off the rust every day. He’s very eager, and he loves to play quarterback.”

Assistant Ken O’Brien, the former NFL quarterback, said, “You’re looking for somebody to jump-start things, and he kind of did that. I’m confident with whoever we start.

“It’s new for [Fox] right now. He’s like a puppy out there. You’re not sure what’s going to happen next.”

*

USC vs. ARIZONA ST.

Saturday

at Coliseum

3:30 p.m.

Fox Sp. West

UCLA

The play of Ryan Roques in secondary has been a bright spot for Bruins. Page 6