It’s a Real Famine for the Trojans

Once upon a time, USC was a good team prone to bad breaks and crucial mistakes.

The Trojans are nothing but a bad team now.

USC Coach Paul Hackett’s last-ditch attempt to turn around the Trojans with a quarterback change Saturday didn’t work, and USC is in a five-game free fall after a 26-16 homecoming loss to Arizona State in front of 53,382 at the Coliseum.

Their bowl hopes ended, the Trojans (3-6) must win their final three games to avoid their first losing season since 1991.

That pales next to this: It is only the third time in USC history the Trojans have lost five consecutive games during a season.

The only other such droughts: a six-game losing streak in 1991 and a five-game skid in 1957.

“I mean, five straight?” cornerback Antuan Simmons said as he sat solemnly in the locker room. “I guess we’ll be some part of history.”

And not the part they wanted.

“In my career, it seems like we’re always going in the record book for something bad--turnovers or the lowest rushing total or penalties,” tailback Chad Morton said. “I don’t want to be remembered by that at USC.”

The Trojans began the season ranked in the Top 25, and they are 1-5 in the Pacific 10 Conference after being picked to finish second.

Realistically, nothing remains but a battle of bad teams, the game against UCLA on Nov. 20, and an attempt to avoid further indignities against Washington State and Louisiana Tech, teams that will be looking to knock the Trojans down another notch.

“We’ve got to come back against Washington State next week,” receiver R. Jay Soward said. “I can’t remember USC losing six in a row. Five is bad. Six would be horrible.”

The Trojans are in upheaval, with no idea who their starting quarterback is after Hackett went with John Fox to start the game, then turned to former starter Mike Van Raaphorst in the third quarter.

Neither could spark USC, and they combined for three critical interceptions--Fox threw one to set up an Arizona State touchdown in the first half and Van Raaphorst threw two in the final 6 1/2 minutes of the game, killing a comeback attempt that started when Ennis Davis’ touchdown on an interception cut the deficit to three points.

“I don’t know who’ll be the quarterback next week,” Hackett said. “I’ll have to look at the tape. We’ll use both guys the rest of the way, and try to find some way to win.

“I thought John Fox made one errant throw that cost us dearly. When you play a new quarterback, sometimes the fine-tuning isn’t there, and he threw behind the receiver. We made the change with Mike, and the same thing happened. We’re a struggling football team.”

Whether USC will bring back injured quarterback Carson Palmer for only one or two games is one of the last bits of suspense in this season.

“I think it’s pushing it to have him by UCLA,” said Hackett, who expects an update on Palmer’s broken collarbone this week. “We have to look at it now that we are out of any bowl thoughts. We have to look at the big picture.”

USC trailed much of the game, but Davis, a defensive tackle, gave the Trojans hope in the fourth quarter when he intercepted a pass by Ryan Kealy and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown, cutting the lead to 19-16 with 8:46 left before David Newbury missed the extra-point attempt.

But the shred of hope started going south a couple of minutes later when Arizona State’s Mike Pinkard picked off a pass by Van Raaphorst and returned it 35 yards to the USC four-yard line.

Stephen Baker’s missed 23-yard field-goal attempt again gave the Trojans new life with 4:44 left, but USC gained only 17 yards during the possession before being forced to punt after three consecutive incomplete passes.

Arizona State (5-4, 4-2) scored the clinching touchdown with 1:47 left, setting it up with a 31-yard pass to Richard Williams on third and four from their own 41. J.R. Redmond scored the touchdown--his third of the game--on a 14-yard run.

Redmond was all over the field in his return from a one-game NCAA suspension in the bizarre case in which he sought to avoid a penalty by marrying a female student and athletic department employee who had given him a plane ticket and use of a cellular phone.

He started on both sides of the ball--at tailback and safety--rushed for 148 yards and had four tackles, including one on USC’s Windrell Hayes that saved a touchdown.

USC struck early, taking a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on Morton’s two-yard run two plays after officials mistakenly ruled Soward was out of bounds on what would have been a touchdown catch.

But Arizona State came back to tie the score on a two-yard pass from Kealy to tight end Todd Heap after a drive punctuated by a 31-yard run by Delvon Flowers and a 32-yard catch by Brian Forth.

Heap had a huge day for a tight end, racking up 100 yards on seven catches--and in the second quarter, the Trojans allowed him to catch a fourth-and-one pass for a 37-yard gain to the USC three-yard line.

Redmond scored on the next play for a 19-7 lead.

USC played a mistake-filled game, with Newbury missing a 47-yard field-goal attempt with a line-drive kick and later on an extra point.

Same old, same old.

Fox, who started the season as a linebacker and was making his first start at quarterback since 1997, completed 15 of 24 passes for 148 yards with one interception before giving way to Van Raaphorst with 9 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter. Van Raaphorst, who passed for a school-record 415 yards only two weeks ago, completed 12 of 24 passes for 91 yards with two interceptions.

“This one really hurts,” Fox said. “As a team, we’re frustrated, but we’re not going to give up.”

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Catch-22

With USC losing its fifth consecutive game (longest skid since a six-game stretch in 1991 under Larry Smith), Paul Hackett’s record as the Trojans’ coach is 11-11. A look at recent USC coaches after their first 22 games:

Paul Hackett: 11-11

John Robinson (1993): 15-7

Larry Smith: 18-4

Ted Tollner: 12-9-1

John Robinson (1976): 17-5

John McKay: 10-11-1

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MINNESOTA 24

PENN STATE 23

Tipped pass sets up winning field goal on final play, toppling No. 2 Nittany Lions’ title hopes. Page 8

TENNESSEE 38

NOTRE DAME 14

The Volunteers take advantage of Penn State’s loss and figure to move up in the polls. Page 7

WASHINGTON 33

ARIZONA 25

With the victory, the Huskies remain as front-runners for Pac-10’s Rose Bowl berth. Page 8

VIRGINIA TECH 22

WEST VIRGINIA 20

Shayne Graham’s 44-yard field goal as time expired keeps the Hokies in the national-title picture. Page 9