Trojans, With Glimmer of Hope, Turn to Fox

It’s now or next year for USC.

With a four-game losing streak and a 3-5 record with four games left, the Trojans know their next loss will end their lingering hopes for a winning season and a chance at a bowl game.

Desperate times, desperate measures, and Coach Paul Hackett is turning to John Fox--USC’s third starting quarterback of the season--against Arizona State today at the Coliseum.

“We’re looking for something to spark us,” said Hackett, who is delaying the official announcement until today, even though the decision has been made.

“Anything that we can do to gain a little edge, we will do,” Hackett said.

Four consecutive losses, four games left, why not try Fox, who wears No. 4?

What else could the Trojans do?

“Fly Muhammad Ali in again?” asked Hackett, whose team was held rapt by the former heavyweight champion the night before the Notre Dame game, only to lose, 25-24, after blowing a 21-point lead.

“We’ve got to give it everything we can--and that includes both quarterbacks,” Hackett said, indicating deposed starter Mike Van Raaphorst probably will play too.

This could be the last gasp of a team once picked to contend for the Rose Bowl--or the beginning of a major salvage project.

Tailback Chad Morton said the Trojans haven’t quit.

“I think it will be pretty tough, trying to turn a four-game losing streak into a four-game winning streak, but I think we’re capable of doing it,” he said. “A lot of guys are still fighting.

“We’re still close in these games. It’s not like we’ve completely given up and been blown out.”

Safety David Gibson echoed that sentiment.

“We’re still fighting,” he said. “It would be a disservice to this team and this coaching staff to fold up.

“We know we’re a good team. We’ve lost to these teams by a few points. As much work as we’ve put into this, we’re not going to pack it in. We’ve invested too much. Especially the seniors. You don’t want your last memory of college to be that you [quit]. You’d have to question yourself as a person.

“We’re still shooting to go to a bowl game--and of course always to beat UCLA. That would give us an accomplishment that’s a lot more than other teams have done the last few years.”

Arizona State (4-4, 3-2 in the Pacific 10 Conference) is the immediate hurdle.

Win today, and USC has three seemingly surmountable foes, Washington State (2-6), UCLA (3-6) and Louisiana Tech (6-2).

Lose today, and those same three games look like a dismal November trip to Pullman, Wash., a rivalry game against a Bruin team that could make its season with a victory over USC, and a Friday-after-Thanksgiving ambush attempt by a Louisiana Tech team trying to crack the top 25.

“We need this first win to get things going,” Morton said. “Arizona State right now is probably our biggest game of the season. Our backs are against the wall. It’s a very tough situation. This is kind of our season.”

With that, USC turns to Fox, a senior who has played tight end, linebacker and on special teams since losing the starting quarterback’s job during the 1997 season.

“It would feel great to get the first couple of series,” said Fox, who started nine of 11 games in 1997, losing the job to Van Raaphorst for two games before Van Raaphorst went down because of an ankle injury.

“We’re both prepared to play.”

Fox gives USC a more mobile quarterback with a stronger, if somewhat less accurate, arm than Van Raaphorst, and a big dose of inspiration in the huddle.

“He’s kind of a more vocal leader,” Morton said after Fox’s spirited but futile attempt to spark a comeback in the second half against California last week. “He’s in there talking it up, trying to get guys going. He’s just an outgoing-type guy.”

Van Raaphorst, who took over at quarterback after Carson Palmer broke his collarbone against Oregon but went 1-4 as the starter, feels like something of a scapegoat. But his inability to elude the pass rush and his trouble with turnovers contributed to the change only two weeks after he had passed for a school-record 415 yards in a loss to Stanford.

“We haven’t been able to get it done,” Hackett said. “From coaches to players, it takes all of us to play our best. Except for Hawaii, a half against Notre Dame, a half against Stanford, we have not put a game together to the potential we have. We’ve got to play our best, coach our best, yell at the refs our best.

“This is a team that has had some injuries and now our backs are to the wall. This is it: Do it or don’t do it.”

Arizona State has had its own struggles, beating Washington on the road Oct. 16 but losing at Oregon last week while starting tailback J.R. Redmond was serving a one-game NCAA suspension in his bizarre rules violation case that resulted in Redmond’s short-lived marriage to a woman in the school’s athletic department.

“It’s been a strange year, not only conference-wise, but strange for us,” Arizona State Coach Bruce Snyder said.

No argument from the Trojans on that.