Painful Reality Is This Loss Really Hurts

There was the loss, and then there was the injury toll.

USC’s R. Jay Soward was dazed and confused, but seemed as if he would be all right even though he was headed to the hospital for precautionary tests after being knocked unconscious and suffering a possible concussion in the fourth quarter Saturday.

“I just have a bad headache,” said Soward, who came out of the locker room after being knocked out making a block on a kickoff return and tried to reenter the game, only to be escorted off the field by trainers.

“He didn’t know who I was--no, we took him out, and he wanted to get back in the game,” USC Coach Paul Hackett said.

More certain to affect USC on Saturday against Notre Dame were injuries to starting offensive linemen Jason Grain--out for several weeks because of a sprained right knee--and Brent McCaffrey, who has less serious sprains of his right knee and ankle.

USC already was recovering from injuries to starting center Eric Denmon, who appeared in Saturday’s game but didn’t start, and starting guard Donta Kendrick.

There is also concern about linebacker Zeke Moreno, who suffered a shoulder injury and returned to the game even though he was having difficulty raising his arm.

“I’m going to get it checked. I can’t lift my left arm. It’s not numb or anything,” said Moreno, who will undergo tests.

Receiver Windrell Hayes, who sat out two weeks because of a sprained ankle, returned to catch nine passes for a career-high 115 yards.

And, of course, the biggest injury of the season--quarterback Carson Palmer’s broken collarbone--is only beginning to heal.

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Jack Ward, USC’s trainer emeritus and a fixture on the Trojan sideline since 1958, missed Saturday’s game after staying behind in Southern California because of intestinal flu.

Ward’s absence ended a streak of 474 consecutive USC games he had attended.

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Looking for a shred of the positive?

USC punter Mike MacGillivray, who was facing scrutiny because of a poor outing last week, had eight punts for a career-best average of 50.6 yards and a long of 66 yards.

And the Trojans committed only six penalties, two weeks after setting a Pacific 10 Conference record with 21.

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Arizona receiver and punt returner Dennis Northcutt added defense to his repertoire, appearing in the game at cornerback.

His receptions are what he’s known for, though.

He became Arizona’s all-time leading receiver during the game, breaking “T” Bell’s record of 2,509 from 1972-75. Northcutt is at 2,580.

The standout receiver who once wanted to attend USC also has caught a pass in 36 consecutive games and is one game shy of the Pac-10 record set by USC’s John Jackson from 1986-89.