Chest Injury May Keep Tatupu on Bench

USC middle linebacker Lofa Tatupu is questionable for Saturday’s game against UCLA because of a chest injury suffered against Notre Dame, Coach Pete Carroll said Tuesday.

Tatupu, the top-ranked Trojans’ leading tackler, did not practice and said he was still feeling discomfort because of a sprained or dislocated joint in his sternum.

“They said to just take it day-to-day,” said Tatupu, who was chosen first-team All-Pacific 10 Conference. “I just hope I can play. After that, I’ll take it as it comes.”

Tatupu said he sustained the injury when he was hit during the first quarter of USC’s 41-10 victory last Saturday. He continued to play but said he could not get out of bed on Sunday and was in pain Monday.

Collin Ashton worked in Tatupu’s spot on Tuesday and would probably start against UCLA for the second year in a row if Tatupu was unable to play. Ashton started at weak-side linebacker against Arizona and the Bruins last season.

Carroll said the loss of Tatupu would be huge. “He’s a great factor on our defense ... He’s been in the middle of everything,” Carroll said.

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Carroll said after practice that Stanford had made no official contact with USC regarding offensive coordinator Norm Chow.

Chow also said he had not spoken to anyone from Stanford.

According to USC sources, Stanford representatives made unofficial inquiries about Chow in the last week or two.

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Carroll said Notre Dame’s firing of Tyrone Willingham was not surprising on one front.

“The expectations that we live with in programs such as ours, Notre Dame and other great programs around the country are big and there is not a tremendous amount of patience,” Carroll said.

Carroll said Willingham “was in a situation where the expectations were so high and impatience was so obvious, that I guess they felt they had to make the change. He is a great football coach.”

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Quarterback Matt Leinart and running back Reggie Bush were among five finalists chosen for the Walter Camp player of the year award. Oklahoma quarterback Jason White, Sooner running back Adrian Peterson and Utah quarterback Alex Smith are other finalists. The winner will be announced Dec. 9.