Text messages from press row ...

A few more games like the last two and USC fans can stop worrying about the NFL stealing Pete Carroll away. . . .

On the other hand, if Carroll steers the suddenly fallible Trojans through this crisis point, including an NCAA investigation centered on Reggie Bush, the coach could be in demand like never before. . . .

The Trojans, tied for 106th nationally in turnover margin, have stopped heeding the words of their unofficial theme song, Eminem’s “Lose Yourself,” which blares over the public address system when they take the field at the Coliseum. . . .

“You own it, you better not let it go, you only get one shot.” . . .

Stanford, by the way, is not made up entirely of bookworms. . . .

A number of great athletes have grown up on the Farm, among them Jim Plunkett, John Elway, Tiger Woods, John McEnroe, Janet Evans, Kerri Walsh, etc. . . .

Stanford has won 94 NCAA team titles, second only to UCLA’s 100. . . .

A 21-21 tie with Stanford was the only blemish on USC’s 11-0-1 record in 1979, when the Trojans roster included Charles White and Marcus Allen, and three times USC has needed last-second field goals to defeat the Cardinal. . . .

UCLA fans in the lower level of luxury boxes at the Rose Bowl on Saturday night, signifying their distaste not only for all things cardinal and gold but also for what was transpiring on the field below, turned their TV sets toward the seats so that fans in the stands could watch the closing moments of Stanford’s upset of USC. . . .

Coach Karl Dorrell keeps talking about UCLA’s cleaning up its mistakes, but the Bruins’ laundry list of miscues against Notre Dame included five fumbles, four interceptions, five sacks given up and 11 penalties. . . .

The New York Yankees paid nearly $1.6 billion on their payrolls while reaching the playoffs in each of the last 13 seasons, reports Murray Chass of the New York Times, noting that the Dodgers spent $1.04 billion during the same period. . . .

For its money, George Steinbrenner’s team brought six American League pennants and four World Series championships to the Bronx. . . .

The Dodgers won a playoff game in 2004. . . .

In response to a question from reader Jerry McGahey of Burbank, Hideki Matsui of the Yankees and Kaz Matsui of the Colorado Rockies are not related. . . .

Baseball Hall of Famer George Brett and former USC and NFL tight end Jim Obradovich, among those honored this week with plaques on the Sports Walk to the Waterfront in San Pedro, were kindergarten classmates at Center Street School in El Segundo and graduated together from El Segundo High in 1971. . . .

Some believe that the late Ken “Kemer” Brett, a left-hander who compiled an 83-85 record with 10 teams in 14 major league seasons, could have been as good a hitter as younger brother George, who ranks 15th on baseball’s all-time hits list. . . .

Says longtime El Segundo High baseball Coach John Stevenson of Kemer, “At that time, I think there were 24 teams in the big leagues and only one wanted him as a pitcher. That was the Boston Red Sox.” . . .

Ken Brett, taken by the Red Sox with the fourth pick in the 1966 amateur draft, was only 19 when he pitched in the 1967 World Series. . . .

He died in 2003. . . .

With the NBA’s referee betting scandal still fresh in fans’ minds, was it really wise for new Clippers point guard and Stanford alum Brevin Knight to infer this week that he laid down a wager on his alma mater’s game against USC? . . .

“I had just wanted them to cover the spread,” said Knight, who might want to cover his ears next time he speaks to Commissioner David Stern. . . .

A friend and transplanted New Yorker says that, between the Mets’ historic September collapse and the embarrassing revelations in the Isiah Thomas sexual harassment lawsuit, he is reluctant to wear anything with a Mets or Knicks logo on it, “and that’s two-thirds of my wardrobe.” . . .

UCLA freshman basketball player Kevin Love, whose uncle Mike Love sang the lead vocal on many of the Beach Boys’ biggest hits, says his favorite Beach Boys songs are “Good Vibrations” and “California Girls.” . . .

If he is as good as everybody says, the 6-foot-10 center from Lake Oswego, Ore., probably will generate plenty of the former and attract his share of the latter this season. . . .

Boxes of USC Trojans frosted flakes being sold exclusively at Albertsons stores omit the Notre Dame game from the Trojans’ schedule on a side panel and depict only six of the school’s seven Heisman Trophy winners on the front. . . .

This cereal, someone decided, doesn’t go well with O.J.

jerome.crowe@latimes.com