Hackett Gives Team the Boot

They stood outside the walls on McLintock Avenue, some in cardinal, some in white, all embarrassed at being evicted from Howard Jones Field on Friday afternoon.

USC Coach Paul Hackett was angry at his players.

“I said, ‘I’m not going to put up with this,’ ” Hackett said. “Everybody’s mind was on something else. There’s a great lesson here. As soon as you start letting some outside influence take effect, you’re going to have trouble. We didn’t have that at Irvine.”

That is why the Trojans repair to Orange County for preseason workouts. Since leaving the UC Irvine campus, they have beaten Penn State, 29-5; started school; moved into apartments and houses and dormitories and been lauded for having a 1-0 record.

Heads have been turned and it’s only the first week in September.

“I’d rather not have practice than have a bad practice,” Hackett said.

And when the players complained about running wind sprints after a hard practice that ended at sundown--it is a bye week, after all--they were reminded of a little history.

“Last year, my tendency was to ease off,” Hackett said, “and you saw what happened.”

What happened is the Trojans finished with a 6-6 record and did not qualify for a bowl game.

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Hackett said he learned about personnel during last season’s difficulties. It’s why USC is working Frank Strong and Kevin Arbet at punt returner, behind Kareem Kelly, a starter at split end, and Kris Richard.

“Too many times last season I saw R. Jay Soward [a wideout and returner] on the sideline throwing up,” Hackett said. “He was spent.”

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The No. 1 defense scrimmaged the No. 1 offense again Friday, with the defense again holding its head up and linebacker Zeke Moreno knowing he could go home to his five-bedroom house near campus.

His roommates are Matt Nickels, Carson Palmer, Malaefou MacKenzie and Charlie Landrigan, offensive players all.

“When we don’t play well against them, I hear about it all night long,” Moreno said.