Polamalu Sprains an Ankle

Strong safety Troy Polamalu sat out the last 24 minutes of the first half Saturday in a 30-27 loss to Washington State and played only a few downs in the second half after he sprained his right ankle.

Polamalu injured the ankle when he bore down on Washington State receiver Jerome Riley on a pass play in the first quarter. Riley missed the ball and was nothing more than a vulnerable target, so Polamalu eased up to avoid a personal foul penalty. In the process, his ankle buckled.

“I just pushed off it weird and everything went haywire,” Polamalu said. “That teaches me: Never pull up again.”

He was treated by USC’s training staff on a table behind the team bench, then later went back to the locker room where he received “everything you could imagine,” including a cortisone shot.

He will be re-evaluated in Los Angeles.

J.A. Adande

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USC linebacker Melvin Simmons returned to Washington State for the first time since leaving the school after an incident in which he was beaten at a fraternity party in 2000.

Simmons transferred to USC after no charges were filed in the case, redshirted last season and has been a solid weakside linebacker for the Trojans.

Simmons made three solo tackles and assisted on another Saturday night at Martin Stadium.

“It was nothing more and nothing less than I expected,” Simmons said of his return. “The only difference is I know a lot of their guys a lot more personal than other teams.”

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USC defensive tackle Mike Patterson said Washington State did not catch the Trojans unprepared.

“They did everything we prepared for,” he said. “They just did everything better than we expected.”

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Washington State was the fourth consecutive ranked opponent that USC has faced this season.

The only other time USC played four ranked opponents in a row in the same season was in 1952, when they defeated No. 17 Washington and No. 3 UCLA, lost to No. 7 Notre Dame and defeated No. 11 Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl.

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Going into the game, USC’s opponents had converted only seven of 52 third-down attempts.

Washington State converted three of 12.

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USC still leads the series with Washington State, 50-8-4, and is 10-3-2 at Pullman.

The Trojans have won 27 of the last 31 games between the schools.

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Washington State quarterback Jason Gesser has thrown a touchdown pass in 18 consecutive games.

The Cougars have won 15 of their last 18 games, the best 18-game stretch in school history since 1929-30.

Gary Klein