Wright gets first start today

SEATTLE -- Sophomore cornerback Shareece Wright will make the first start of his college career today when top-ranked USC plays Washington in a Pacific 10 Conference game at Husky Stadium.

Wright, from Colton, has been preparing for the assignment since last Saturday when junior Cary Harris suffered a dislocated right shoulder in the first quarter against Washington State.

Wright, 6 feet and 180 pounds, has been a special-teams standout the last two seasons and made several good plays in the opener against Idaho.

“He’s a terrific all-around athlete and always has been very productive,” Coach Pete Carroll said. “He’s very fast, very quick, very natural and he’s very tough. He’ll do well in this opportunity.”

“I don’t feel any pressure,” Wright said. “I’ve just got to be focused on what I’ve got to do. I play calm. Sometimes I get emotional, when you make a big play, but other than that I’m a calm person all the time.”

USC will build an extension to Heritage Hall that will benefit football and other sports, athletic department officials said.

The new facility will house a football locker room, team meeting rooms and coaches’ offices as well as a 25,000-square-foot weight room and 14,000-square-foot training room.

No date has been set for the start of construction, but the expansion is expected to be completed by late 2009 or early 2010, said Tim Tessalone, USC’s sports information director. Fundraising has begun for the project, which will be financed through the athletic department, Tessalone said.

“I couldn’t be more ecstatic about the willingness of the athletic department as well as the university to take this step,” Carroll said. “The main thing is that it gives us a state-of-the-art facility to take care of our athletes.”

As a salute to its 1960 national championship team, Washington will wear throwback jerseys.

“They are a wonderful bluish purple,” Coach Tyrone Willingham said.

After a late-afternoon walk-through Friday at Husky Stadium, Carroll said he was concerned about the sun and shadows that could come into play in the early part of the game, which starts at 5 p.m. . . . USC leads the series with Washington, 47-26-4. The Trojans are 17-16-4 at Seattle and have not lost here since 2001. . . . USC is 20-21-2 when it has rained during substantial parts of a game. . . . Safety Taylor Mays is the only USC player from Washington. Forty Huskies are from California. . . . Willingham, 4-8 against the Trojans, was 4-3 against them at Stanford, 0-3 against them at Notre Dame and is 0-2 against them at Washington. . . . USC is 6-0 against Washington when the Trojans are ranked No. 1. The Huskies are 1-8-1 against top-ranked teams, their only victory having come against Minnesota in the 1961 Rose Bowl.

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gary.klein@latimes.com