Seniors are becoming more class conscious

Reverse senioritis is starting to spread through the UCLA football team. The hunger for a little validation before graduation is on the minds of more than a couple of Bruins going into today’s game at Arizona.

Time is growing short for the 25 seniors on the UCLA roster. Guard Shannon Tevaga came to that realization this week when sophomore cornerback Alterraun Verner sprinted past him before practice.

“He was running onto the field, going, ‘Four more, man,’ ” Tevaga said. “I thought, ‘Dang, four more. Just yesterday I was a freshman coming out here to practice.’

“We want to be remembered. ‘Oh man, that senior class won this, that senior class did that.’ ”

The “this” and “that” have undergone some alterations in the last two months, and the weight of saving Coach Karl Dorrell’s job may now rest on the seniors’ shoulder pads.

Athletic Director Dan Guerrero this week was asked about the program’s current state -- the Bruins are 5-3 overall and 4-1 in Pacific 10 Conference play -- and Dorrell’s status. His response: “I will be very interested to see how we finish the season.”

That seemed a bit ominous considering the season began under a powder blue and gold sky, where all things seemed possible. There was talk of a Pac-10 title and even a spot in the national championship game.

Then came losses to then-winless Utah, winless Notre Dame and winless-in-conference Washington State.

Still, the Bruins’ dream of a conference championship remains, but it will take four consecutive victories to close out the season -- three against ranked teams.

The to-do list may also include securing Dorrell’s future as head coach.

“Coach Dorrell and I came in together, but I don’t want to go out together,” senior defensive end Bruce Davis said.

That casts today’s game as a crucial BCS (Basic Coach Survival) test.

Across the field from Dorrell will be Arizona Coach Mike Stoops, who is on similarly shaky ground. In his fourth year with the Wildcats, Stoops is 15-29, including records of 3-6 overall and 2-4 in conference play this season.

But at least Stoops has a public statement of support from his boss.

“Have I given up? Absolutely not,” Arizona Athletic Director Jim Livengood said two weeks ago. “I have great, tremendous belief in this football staff and this football program.”

Of course, Livengood’s future may be tied to Stoops, which leaves little time to worry about other people’s problems.

Asked Monday if he sympathized with Dorrell, Stoops laughed and said, “Are you kidding me?”

Then he got more serious.

“I mean, I understand what every coach goes through. I live it day-to-day. It’s not an easy process,” the Arizona coach said. “. . . The guys in this league don’t make excuses. They go about their business.”

The Wildcats took care of business a year ago, winning four of their last six games to at least temporarily mollify the masses. And they seemed to answer for Stoops again last week with a 48-41 victory over Washington.

Victories in the last three games would make the Wildcats a 6-6 team for the second consecutive season. The Bruins’ last four games could make them Pac-10 champions and earn a spot in the Rose Bowl. That would certainly be enough to ensure Dorrell’s return.

“We’re not thinking about anything else but these games,” senior linebacker Christian Taylor said. “We have a group of senior guys and it’s about this year and this year only. . . . We’re focused on this year and this game only.”

Still, Taylor said, “We want to leave the program in good hands and good standing when we’re done. That’s something we’ve talked about.”

Turning talk into action could require some senior moments for Dorrell’s first recruiting class.

“We want to win the first Pac-10 championship [at UCLA] in nine years,” senior center Chris Joseph said. “That is the goal of the season, that’s the thing we wear on our wrist bands. This is a championship game this week.”

UCLA mantra has cast each week as a championship game, and the Bruins have lost two of their last three.

Losses to Notre Dame and Washington State were sandwiched around a meaty victory over then-10th-ranked California. Of course, like Notre Dame and Washington State, Cal now appears to be headed nowhere after three consecutive losses.

The Bruins can go in another direction, with the starting point a victory over Arizona, the easiest task remaining on the schedule. UCLA’s last three games are against sixth-ranked Arizona State, fourth-ranked Oregon and 13th-ranked USC.

“Our opportunities to go out there and play this great game, at this great school, are winding down,” senior cornerback Trey Brown said. “You kind of got that feeling where it’s time now to make this go, it’s time to make this thing happen.”

For themselves and Dorrell?

Said Davis: “I want for him to be here and be around to take control of this program.”

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chris.foster@latimes.com

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VS. ARIZONA

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12:30 p.m. PDT

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