Trojans don’t need another distraction

You want to talk about a 40-point underdog coming back to bite USC in the hip pads?

Forget Stanford, meet Lloyd Lake.

You want to talk about an upset that could shake college football’s premier program down to its flip-flops?

Forget Stanford’s destruction of USC’s house, and focus instead on the NCAA’s ransacking of Reggie Bush’s parents’ house.

Hard to believe that one of the greatest splats in college football history might not even be the worst thing to happen to USC in the last few days, but it’s true.

Still dazed by last weekend’s 24-23 loss to the Cardinal, the Trojans could soon be haunted by the NCAA, which is entertaining a new star in its auditions for evidence in the long-running Bush Boondoggle.

It is Lake, and he promises to sing his heart out.

The former gang member and convicted felon is out of jail and reportedly ready to croon about the money and rent payments he and his partner allegedly gave the Bush family while Bush was still playing at USC.

The case has been on hold because nobody would talk, and it became even more invisible last April when Lake’s partner, Michael Michaels, settled out of court with the Bush family.

But Lake, apparently, is having trouble applying a similar squeeze on Bush. So he says he’s turning over his records to the NCAA, which could mean nothing and everything.

The guy has zero credibility, but if the evidence shows any link between the Trojans and these Bush associates, USC could be hit with penalties stiffer than that bronze arm on their Heismans.

If the evidence shows a link between Bush and the money, he could actually lose his Heisman.

At the very least, Lake’s threat is just another distraction for a program that, for the first time under Coach Pete Carroll, actually does seem distracted.

The timing of this Bush investigation is purely coincidental, but it settles eerily into the odd rut in which this team is stuck.

For the first time, Carroll’s message doesn’t seem to be resonating.

For the first time, his touch doesn’t seem to be inspiring.

Maybe the younger kids just aren’t mature enough to understand it. Maybe the older guys aren’t strong enough to role-model it.

“The young guys are listening, but they’re not catching up as quick,” said senior tight end Fred Davis. “And maybe some of us veterans need to lead more by example.”

Whatever the case, there is a strange disconnect between the coaching staff and what was supposed to be one of the greatest collections of talent in college football history.

We’re used to Classic Carroll. Instead, we are seeing Clunky Carroll and Curious Carroll.

There are problems with on-field discipline, there are problems with late-game focus, there is a general lack of fire in a program that once burned enough to consistently keep 90,000 folks warm.

A Pete Carroll-coached team that has been penalized more yards than anyone in the Pac-10? A Carroll team that is tied for last in the conference in sacks?

When is the last time Carroll’s defense ranked last in the conference in takeaways? When is the last time that defense tied for last in giving up fourth-down conversions?

As Trojans fans know, this malaise didn’t just start with Stanford.

In the opener against Idaho, the Vandals outscored USC’s subs, 7-3, in the last 16 minutes.

In the second game, Nebraska outscored USC’s subs, 21-7, in the last 16 minutes.

Remember when everyone on the Trojans played hard enough to make an impact? Remember when they never lost a fourth quarter to anyone, ever?

Then came the Washington game, which the Trojans should have lost, being outscored, 10-3, in the fourth quarter, and committing 16 penalties for 161 yards in the game.

The coaches were livid. The players were embarrassed. And what happened?

Nothing. They didn’t grow, they shrunk. They didn’t learn from it, they lost from it.

They fell to sorry Stanford while being outscored, 17-7, in the fourth quarter with a rookie quarterback converting on two fourth-down plays on the final drive against them for the victory.

Classic Carroll teams would have been so angry by the near-stumble in Washington, they would have beaten Stanford by 50.

Classic Carroll almost never loses to teams it should beat. Before Saturday, in the last six seasons, it had lost one game to a team with a losing record, and that was the funky three-overtime loss at Cal in 2003.

For the first time in recent memory, he acknowledged Tuesday that he could have coached better against Stanford.

“We made some errors in judgment. . . . I take responsibility,” he said.

Later, though, he shook his head when asked if he thought his message wasn’t working.

“I think you are wrong about that,” he said. “When there’s problems in execution, what does that have to do with my message? Players are still getting the message, they’re just not executing.”

There are obvious problems with the young wide receivers. There was an obvious problem at quarterback that Mark Sanchez could fix. There are issues in the secondary with young subs learning their lines. The entire attack seems uncertain under new offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian.

But just as the credit for the Trojan greatness belonged to Carroll, so should the question surrounding their struggles.

Did last winter’s serious flirtation with the Miami Dolphins start him down a road to the NFL next year? Is it getting more difficult for him to work with young kids whose football intelligence doesn’t yet match their skill? Will this latest Bush news make him throw up his hands in frustration at the silliness of college football’s rules?

Because it seems as if his team has struggled with its focus, is it fair to wonder whether Carroll has, at times, struggled with his focus?

He is arguably the best coach in college football history. He deserves every benefit of every doubt.

But, as of now, he is the boss of a season with stunningly few benefits, and surprisingly many doubts.

Bill Plaschke can be reached at bill.plaschke@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Plaschke, go to latimes.com/plaschke.