Text messages from press row ...

No team with five losses has ever reached the Rose Bowl -- UCLA hopes to become the first Saturday -- but UCLA and former walk-on Rick Neuheisel once made it with four losses and a tie. . . .

The Bruins were 6-4-1 in 1983, but capped a comeback from a 0-3-1 start by defeating USC at the Coliseum in their season finale, a victory that, combined with Washington State’s upset of Washington, sent UCLA to the Rose Bowl. . . .

On Jan. 2, 1984, the Bruins stunned fourth-ranked and heavily favored Illinois, 45-9, with Neuheisel passing for 298 yards and four touchdowns. . . .

Two of Neuheisel’s touchdown passes, covering 15 and 16 yards, were caught by a sophomore wide receiver from San Diego named Karl Dorrell. . . .

Some UCLA fans, of course, would love for Dorrell and Neuheisel to reverse roles in the near future, with Dorrell passing the UCLA coaching reins to Neuheisel. . . .

In what could be a bad omen for USC, John David Booty and the Trojans go into Saturday’s game against UCLA coming off a 44-24 victory in their most recent game. A year ago, they overwhelmed Notre Dame by that score before stumbling against the Bruins. . . .

Oregon’s Dennis Dixon won’t win the Heisman Trophy, but a strong case could be made that he is college football’s most valuable player. . . .

The Ducks’ offense has ground to a halt without him. After Dixon’s replacements -- Brady Leaf, Cody Kempt and Justin Roper -- misfired on 27 of 38 passes in Saturday’s 16-0 loss to UCLA, Oregon Coach Mike Bellotti said of the Ducks’ first shutout loss in 22 years, “That was painful to watch.” . . .

USA Today reports that the $90-million contract bringing center fielder Torii Hunter to the Angels was hammered out by Angels General Manager Tony Reagins and Hunter’s agent, Larry Reynolds, at a fast-food restaurant in Corona. . . .

“I always imagined my deal would get done inside a boardroom or a Capital Grille,” Hunter told the newspaper. “Turns out it was done at Del Taco. Can you believe it? The deal gets done over some tacos.” . . .

BTW, Reagins has hit the ground running in his new job while the Dodgers have done nothing this off-season except sign Manager Joe Torre. . . .

Chris Kaman’s eye-opening play for the Clippers in the early going this season -- the fifth-year center was averaging 18.3 points and 13.9 rebounds before Monday night’s matchup against Yao Ming -- should be encouraging news for patient Lakers fans hoping for the same level of consistency from Andrew Bynum. . . .

Bynum, who recently turned 20, is five years younger than Kaman. . . .

If the Lakers had traded for Jason Kidd last season, they’d probably be better and more fun to watch but they still wouldn’t be a championship contender. . . .

College basketball fans with time on their hands Sunday might want to check out O.J. Mayo and 22nd-ranked USC against fourth-ranked Kansas at 11 a.m. at the Galen Center, then fast break over to Westwood to watch Kevin Love and second-ranked UCLA take on eighth-ranked Texas at 5 p.m. at Pauley Pavilion. . . .

USC’s Davon Jefferson-led rout of Southern Illinois on Sunday may have attracted more than two dozen NBA scouts, but it didn’t attract much of a crowd. . . .

The stands at the Anaheim Convention Center looked empty. . . .

With 12 Super Bowl appearances and eight Super Bowl victories between them, it’s hard to believe that during the Super Bowl era neither the Dallas Cowboys nor the Green Bay Packers were ever 10-1 before this season. . . .

Bart Starr and the Packers were 9-2 in 1966 on their way to a victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in the inaugural Super Bowl. . . .

The Cowboys, behind Roger Staubach in 1977 and Troy Aikman in 1992 and 1995, were 9-2 on their way to Super Bowl victories. . . .

With Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selane still missing, the Ducks’ inability to duplicate last season’s incredible start is not the least bit surprising. . . .

The Ducks, 16-2-6 at this point a year ago, are 11-9-4. . . .

Nor is the Ducks’ search for consistency totally unexpected. . . .

Recent Stanley Cup champions have struggled in defense of their titles. The most recent example was the Carolina Hurricanes, who dispatched the Edmonton Oilers in the 2006 finals but didn’t even make the playoffs last spring. . . .

In the 2003-04 season, less than a year after coming within one victory over the New Jersey Devils of winning the Cup, the Ducks finished 12th in the West. . . .

So, what’s the Kings’ excuse?

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jerome.crowe@latimes.com