USC UCLA RIVALRY

A 58-year tradition will continue Saturday when the winner of the UCLA-USC game is awarded the Victory Bell.

The bell was originally given to UCLA students by Bruin alumni in 1939, but USC students took the bell and hid it. Since 1942, the first year UCLA beat USC, the students agreed that the trophy would be given to the city champion.

The Jim Murray Trophy, commemorating the late Times sports columnist who died in 1998, will also be presented to the winner of the game.

And no, the loser will not get the T.J. Simers Trophy.

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The USC team, band, cheerleaders and Traveler will join a crowd of about 1,500 at the USC campus at 7 tonight for the Trojans’ football rally.

Defensive tackle Ennis Davis, center Eric Denmon and tailback Petros Papadakis will speak.

All that’s missing is a coach.

USC Coach Paul Hackett, who’d rather spend his time preparing for the game, won’t be there tonight to pump up his players.

MEMORABLE GAME

* Nov. 21, 1992 (UCLA 38, USC 37)--Trailing, 31-17, after three quarters, the Bruins were in dire straits.

With 12:49 remaining, senior quarterback John Barnes connected on a 29-yard touchdown pass play with J.J. Stokes to end a seven-play, 69-yard drive. After stopping the Trojans, the Bruins took only five plays to go 80 yards for another touchdown, this one on a one-yard run by Kevin Williams. The score was tied, 31-31, with seven minutes left, and the 80,568 in the Rose Bowl were raucous. The Trojans, unable to move the ball on their next possession, were forced to punt, and pinned the Bruins on their four-yard line. On third and four from the 10, Barnes found Stokes all alone at the 25, and he raced all the way for the go-ahead touchdown.

But the Trojans weren’t done. Quarterback Rob Johnson marched them downfield and called a quarterback sneak to score on a one-yard dive with only 41 seconds to play. Bruin linebacker Nkosi Littleton knocked away Johnson’s two-point conversion attempt, preserving the Bruin victory.

NOW YOU KNOW

Aside from pride, there’s not much at stake for either team this year, so the game won’t threaten any attendance records. The biggest crowd for this game at the Rose Bowl was in 1988 (100,741), but the stadium doesn’t hold that many now. The top crowds in the series were at the Coliseum. In 1954, 102,548 watched the eventual national champion Bruins beat USC, 34-0, and in 1947, 102,050 saw the Trojans win, 6-0.

ALUMNI

KEYSHAWN JOHNSON

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

USC Receiver

Class of ’96

“It’s a great rivalry. They [UCLA] recruit a different type of athlete. USC, when we were winning, recruited a hard-nosed inner-city kid. UCLA was recruiting cream puffs.

“Unfortunately, they beat us. But it just has always been a great rivalry between the two schools. Hopefully we win by at least 17.”

RANDY CROSS

CBS NFL Analyst

UCLA Offensive Lineman

Class of ’76

“The best part of the rivalry is not the one on the field, it’s as a student, [because] there are so many kids that went to the same high school and now are at different [universities]. And [the rivalry] just carries with you the rest of your life. . . .

“The week of the game I just stay quiet around ‘SC people, but when we win I take a shot every chance I get at USC people like Junior Seau, Rob Johnson and Sunday I’ll see Marcus Allen and we’ll joke. They all still feel [the loss] even years later. It doesn’t go away. . . . Gloating comes a lot easier to Trojans, but when forced we can do a good job too.”