They Tried Different Trojan Horse

For a decided change, USC’s basketball team, not UCLA’s, was Arizona’s targeted team last week in Tucson.

“Wildcat coaches played a psychological game in which their weekly buildup was exclusively USC,” Greg Hansen wrote in the Arizona Daily Star.

“This was the first time in 15 seasons that the Trojans came to Tucson more feared than UCLA. Or at least co-feared, and the young Arizona team bought it all.”

The Wildcats routed the Trojans, 97-80, after leading by as many as 31 points.

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Trivia time: Which team holds the NBA record for points scored in the first half of a game?

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That settles it: On HBO’s “Inside the NFL,” sideline cameras during the 49er-Packer playoff game captured 49er Coach Steve Mariucci’s discussion with officials over a play involving punt returner Vinny Sutherland that was under review.

“They say that he touched it?” Mariucci asks. “Ask the guy. Look, he says he didn’t touch it. You are wasting everybody’s time. Why would he lie? He’s from Purdue.”

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Heady stuff: Jeff Gordon in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “[We] expect a few thousand Green Bay Packer fans to work their way into the Dome on Sunday for the big playoff game [against the Rams], and we’re pleased to see they will be allowed to wear their cheese heads after those ludicrous hats clear security. But what can St. Louisians wear to counter them? Toasted ravioli heads?”

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Good investment: Steve Rosenbloom in the Chicago Tribune: “If David Stern takes all the money he gets from fining Dallas owner Mark Cuban for ripping NBA officials and puts that money toward training the refs better, then this whole thing would go away.”

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Field conspiracy: Jerry Greene in the Orlando Sentinel: “You were astonished at Steve Spurrier’s sudden announcement he was leaving Florida and then again when he chose Washington as his new home.

“Didn’t make sense, did it? But that’s because you were not aware of the mysterious ‘FedEx factor.’ Spurrier’s’ last game was in the FedEx Orange bowl. The Redskins play their home games at FedEx Field.”

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Get it? Making note of Michael Jordan’s impending divorce, Jay Leno quipped: “Apparently now, for the last six, seven years, Michael Jordan has had like a half-dozen girlfriends while he’s married, and I’m thinking to myself, ‘Well, good God, forget the NBA, this guy’s presidential material.’”

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Cardinal rule: From Caught on the Fly in the Sporting News: “Yep, Casey Jacobsen’s scoring is up, but his sharpshooter rep is starting to dull. The extra--ahem--attention has him f-f-f-frustrated, and he’s shooting with one eye on the rim, the other on the NBA. Jake says: ‘If scouts believe I can’t create my own shot, well, one-on-one, that’s not a problem. One-on-two or -three, that’s a problem.’”

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Trivia answer: Phoenix, with 107, against Denver on Nov. 10, 1990.

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And finally: Jim Armstrong in the Denver Post: “Raider defensive tackle Darrell Russell has been suspended for a year after testing positive for Ecstasy. In a related story, the Detroit Lions’ entire team recently tested positive for Agony.”

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Mal Florence