Palmer Looks to Get Well

Carson Palmer thought that standing on the sideline with a broken collarbone last season, watching helplessly as his USC team lost five games in a row, was the worst feeling in the world.

He was wrong.

The sophomore has changed his mind after three consecutive losses in which he has thrown a few too many interceptions, missed a few too many open receivers and otherwise played inconsistently.

“Now I’m in the games and we’re losing,” he said. “That’s an even worse feeling.”

But Palmer still sees a shot at redemption, a chance to salvage the season and lead his team to a bowl game, any bowl game. He sees that chance with a stretch of games against unranked opponents beginning today at Stanford.

The Trojans face a Cardinal team that, like them, has played below expectations and is in a three-game slide.

A month ago, this looked like a marquee matchup. USC was unbeaten. Stanford, the defending Pacific 10 Conference champion, had upset highly ranked Texas. Then both teams fell into a pattern of making costly mistakes and surrendering quick touchdowns.

Now the question is: Which will turn things around and which will slip deeper into a dreary season?

For the Trojans, the answer depends largely on their quarterback.

“The challenge is on him,” Coach Paul Hackett said. “There’s no question about it.”

Earlier in the season, after Palmer had played poorly against Penn State, the coaching staff gave him a series of short, confidence-building passes to start the next game against Colorado.

This time, however, the Trojans might be tempted to go deep in a hurry. They have been throwing downfield in practice, anticipating a Stanford defense that got burned for two long touchdown passes at Oregon State last week.

“Occasionally we give up the big play,” Stanford Coach Tyrone Willingham said in something of an understatement. “When you do that, it seems to erase all of the good things that you do.”

The Cardinal’s best bet might be to rush Palmer with the dangerous tandem of defensive tackle Willie Howard and outside linebacker Riall Johnson, who leads the conference in sacks.

That means USC will also need to establish a running game with tailback Sultan McCullough, who had a career-best 152 yards against Oregon last week. Stanford ranks near the bottom of the conference against the rush.

Hackett recognizes the opportunity but said last week’s loss taught him that no matter how well his team runs, “if you don’t hit the wide-open receivers . . . you’re not going to win.”

Of course Palmer will need help on defense, where the Trojans hope to be better prepared. Last week, they loaded up for the run and paid dearly as Oregon quarterback Joey Harrington had a career game, passing for 382 yards and four touchdowns.

USC knows better than to underestimate Stanford quarterback Randy Fasani, who returns after missing most of four games with an injured left knee.

“Fasani has lit it up,” Hackett said. “He’ll drop straight back and fire the ball.”

Fasani’s favorite target is DeRonnie Pitts, one of the best receivers in the conference.

“He’s a well-kept secret,” Willingham said. “Hopefully people are realizing now that this is one heck of a player.”

The Trojans certainly know about Pitts and the damage he could do to the sophomores who make up the injury-racked secondary. Defensive coordinator Bill Young must wrestle over when to blitz and when to keep his linebackers in pass coverage.

But for all the strategy and lineup changes, there remains the overriding question of which team can break free from its downward spiral of turnovers and blown assignments.

USC wants to build momentum for games against California, Arizona State and Washington State. At Stanford, Willingham takes a more philosophical approach.

“In my opinion, life is habits,” he said. “You can develop a habit of winning . . . or losing.”

And that’s what irks Palmer the most.

More than last season’s injury. More than this season’s interceptions and incomplete passes and the murmurs of criticism he hears from fans and the media.

“It doesn’t really bother me what people are saying,” he said. “It bothers me that we’re losing.”