Hackett Has the Bruins Just Where He Wants ‘Em

I know what you are thinking: At this point, probably only a hand count of all his team’s mistakes will delay the inevitable for USC Coach Paul Hackett.

You probably figure no matter how anyone recounts this season, he’s a goner, but I’d like to think at the very worst Hackett was just having one of those Laker-like Saturdays, and couldn’t concentrate against a who-cares team such as Washington State.

You really can’t expect a guy to bear down every Saturday. I would think it’s a lot like Shaq, who says when it comes time to make free throws, he will. You know, when it comes time to play important games against UCLA and Notre Dame, Hackett will start coaching.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the genius wasn’t setting the Bruins up with the loss to Washington State and dropping the Trojans into last place in the Pacific 10 Conference. This has to make UCLA overconfident, and therefore ripe for an upset.

You know how cocky those Bruins get when they think they are good. It was just a few weeks ago and one of their quarterbacks was talking about how they should be ranked No. 1, which as it turned out was like Ralph Nader predicting he would be the next president.

Consider the damage if you’re USC, and you beat Washington State. You would be riding a two-game winning streak as you go into the Rose Bowl on Saturday, and you’ve seen what happens to Hackett when his team wins a couple in a row--he starts cracking jokes about UCLA, which would really make the Bruins mad.

No, Hackett’s really serious right now, and keep in mind that nowhere in the USC coaching manual does it say a coach’s job rests on the outcome of a game against the Cougars.

It’s all about UCLA and Notre Dame at USC, and you can see the Hackett brilliance at work, throwing a quarterback controversy at the Bruins--the last thing they’d have expected as they begin preparations for the cross-town showdown.

As you know, the Bruins’ defense usually spends all week studying one particular quarterback, and as a rule, it’s still not enough time to help them stop from getting trampled by the opposition. This week UCLA will have to review the work of both Carson Palmer and Mike Van Raaphorst, because Hackett turned the game over to Van Raaphorst in the second half, and he threw three touchdown passes.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Hackett pulls a Lou Holtz this week and closes practice to the media so he can keep the Bruins guessing, wondering if they will get riddled by Palmer or Van Raaphorst.

“We’ve got to coach better,” said Hackett in revealing his strategy for the UCLA game, and I’m guessing that UCLA’s Bob Toledo has not thought of that.

This whole USC campaign has been about underestimating the Trojans as we near the finish line, and I’m pretty sure Hackett has the Bruins right where he wants them. And if it comes down a battle of coaching wits in the season finale between Hackett and Notre Dame’s Bob Davie, well, that’s a very good question.

“We had a winning effort in the second half,” said Hackett, an indication that the Trojans are peaking at just the right time. “We just have to regroup now for the two most important games of the year.”

You see that’s what he has been waiting for--the two most important games of the year--and now he’s going to start coaching.

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I PROBABLY MISTOOK USC President Steven Sample’s silence and lack of courtesy in returning a phone call as an indication he hasn’t been paying attention to the Trojans’ football program.

I was wrong, of course, because the big guy has already acted decisively, firing Traveler’s jockey after the horse ran over a sideline worker. Like you, I’m guessing Sample was angry because Hackett moved out of the way at the very last second, prompting him to blame the jockey for nailing the wrong guy.

Since he’s unavailable for comment, we’ll probably never know for sure.

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IT WAS A big week for T.J. Cummings, who made a dynamic debut for UCLA, and T.J. Duckett, who ran for 174 yards in Michigan State’s upset win over Purdue. I think it’s pretty obvious why.

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THE DODGERS’ ONLY hope to gain any self-respect is to pursue Seattle shortstop Alex Rodriguez, or send Kevin Malone away on an extended UCLA recruiting trip out of the country.

If they signed Rodriguez, some say they’d have to unload Gary Sheffield. If so, I’m not sure it would get more than a shrug out of Dodger fans.

They already blew one chance at potential excitement. Given the success of Hideo Nomo when he was here, maybe they should have been more aggressive in making a pitch for Japan’s best player, leadoff man Ichiro Suzuki, who is now negotiating with the Mariners.

Right now the Dodgers are all about what they are not doing. The team made no attempt to regain credibility with their fans when they set out to find a manager, assembling a list of 11 unremarkable candidates and making no pitch whatsoever at anyone with any significant major league standing.

George Steinbrenner isn’t concerned with the size of his payroll, and Fox spent whatever it took to lock up every postseason game. Bob Daly is a Steinbrenner wannabe with Fox’s backing who has yet to do anything remarkable.

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TODAY’S LAST WORD comes in an e-mail from P.L.:

“When we started attending Raider games our kids were in grammar school. Sure, some of the Raider fans wear costumes, spikes and things, but as our kids grew up, they got to know those guys-- who are seen on TV--and believe it or not, they are family men. It’s like my kids say, give us a break.”

Be sure to have your kids look me up when they’re released on parole.

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T.J. Simers can be reached at his e-mail address: t.j.simers@latimes.com.