USC Wants to End Skid With Rush

Amid the bleakness of a four-game losing streak, USC has seen flickers of hope the last few weeks.

Sultan McCullough runs 59 yards for a touchdown. Malaefou MacKenzie breaks a 69-yard run to set up a field goal. Petros Papadakis scores three touchdowns in three games.

“We’re running the ball better,” said fullback Charlie Landrigan, who leads the way for the three tailbacks. “We’re getting a little more confidence and that’s a positive.”

It is a little something to take into today’s homecoming game against California at the Coliseum, a matchup of teams at the bottom of the Pacific 10 Conference standings.

The Trojans see a chance to end their skid against a Golden Bear team that has lost five of its last six games. A rejuvenated running attack could help turn things around.

USC ranks fourth in the conference in rushing with 155.4 yards a game. In the last two games, against Stanford and Oregon, that average has risen to almost 230 yards.

McCullough has led the way with consecutive 100-yard performances. MacKenzie and Papadakis, the short-yardage specialist, also have gotten a piece of the action.

“Running the football is one of those things, when one guy runs real well, it flows,” said Kennedy Pola, the running backs coach. “Whoever comes in, it’s boom-boom-boom.”

Today, the Trojan backfield tests itself against the next-best part of a Cal team that is otherwise known for its preseason All-American punter, Nick Harris.

The Golden Bears lost several key players from a defense that ranked No. 1 in the Pac-10 last season, but the stalwarts of the line remain.

“Obviously the key to the success of our defense starts with Andre Carter and Jacob Waasdorp, two linemen that are All Pac-10 returners from last year,” Coach Tom Holmoe said. “These are two guys that just have fun playing and they inspire the team.”

Carter, another preseason All-American, is tied for second in the conference with seven sacks. Waasdorp has 18 solo tackles and an interception.

So while the Golden Bears have struggled to defend the pass, surrendering a conference-worst 255 yards a game, they have been tough up front.

“They’re very strong on the defensive side of the ball,” USC Coach Paul Hackett said. “Carter is maybe having the best year of any defensive end in the country.”

The running game also figures into Cal’s offense, where quarterback Kyle Boller has been streaky, completing only 46% of his passes and throwing for fewer than 180 yards a game. That leaves much of the workload to tailback Joe Igber.

At 5 feet 8 and 190 pounds, the sophomore from Honolulu is neither big nor unusually fast but has proved to be an elusive runner. He leads his team in rushing and receiving and, in the last three games, has accounted for 67% of the total offense.

“He’s been hot and we want to get the ball into his hands as much as possible,” Holmoe said.

The Trojans have noticed. The linebackers will have to worry about plugging gaps along the line while remaining watchful in case Igber sneaks out for a pass.

“You have to adjust to both,” linebacker Kori Dickerson said. “That’s where your speed comes in.”

But Hackett does not want too much attention focused on the Cal back. Boller, who threw three touchdown passes against UCLA a couple of weeks ago, represents a threat to a Trojan secondary that has been severely thinned by injury, reduced to veteran Kris Richard and a handful of less-experienced players.

“We have a lot of guys who are ready and willing,” Richard said. “The younger guys have to step up.”

Maybe the best way to take the pressure off the secondary is to pound the ball on offense, controlling the clock with the running game.

That could solve USC’s problems with surrendering big plays and making small mistakes. That could keep quarterback Carson Palmer a little safer against Carter, giving him more time to work on Cal’s secondary.

And that sounds fine to Pola and his crew.

“There’s a role for each of us on the team,” Pola said. “If we get a little better, we’re going to be pretty good.”