Bud Withers / Times college football reporter
Bud Withers: Loaded Trojans have their mojo working

MARK J. TERRILL / AP Lefty quarterback Matt Leinart (above) put up huge numbers in leading USC to the national championship last season. But he may not be the best QB in the Pac-10.

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Oh, those Trojans. Just when you think USC has hoarded every good running back in the West, every turbo-fueled wide receiver in North America, every defensive tackle with a foul temper, every good recruit from Petaluma to Temecula, the Trojans are trying to cop the market on mojo.

Gotta admit they're pretty good at it, like everything else they're doing in football these days. They even got the first victory of the college season Saturday, wearing on Virginia Tech, 24-13.

As USC glided to The Associated Press' national title last year, publicists waded into the school's bulging archives and came up with some haunting parallels between the 2003 Trojans and their national-champion predecessors of 1978:

• Both teams split the championship with a school from the SEC (Alabama in 1978, LSU in 2003).

• Both were quarterbacked by left-handers (Paul McDonald, Matt Leinart) who led the Pac-10 in passing.

• Both had a receiver named Williams (Kevin, Mike) who set a school record for season touchdown catches.

• Both completed 12-1 records by beating Michigan in the Rose Bowl.

• Both were led by third-year coaches at the school (John Robinson, Pete Carroll).

• All this happened while an Oklahoma player (Billy Sims, Jason White) was winning the Heisman Trophy.

• Both Robinson and Carroll succeeded legends at USC (John McKay, Paul Hackett). OK, just wanted to see if you were still with us.

One would think that the Trojans exhausted a generation's worth of karma last year, but no. They're back, not only having won 28 of their past 32 games, but — the nerve — attempting to co-opt all the good vibes the way Mike Williams gathered in footballs for them.

In 1979, the Trojans went unbeaten. A midseason tie with Stanford cost them another national championship, and USC finished No. 2 in the polls. Now USC is reminding us that in addition to the carryover similarities, the 2004 Troy Boys are redolent of that '79 group.

• Both were preseason No. 1s.

• Both opened against Techies (Texas Tech, Virginia Tech).

• Both had a running back named White (Charles, who won the '79 Heisman; LenDale).

• Both had a player named Mike McDonald.

• Both had a highly publicized freshman wide receiver from New Jersey (Timmy White, Dwayne Jarrett).

• Both had a No. 1-ranked recruiting class entering that fall.

All this would suggest that the rest of the Pac-10 is left to fight it out for the Dirt Devil Tulare Bowl, but not so. Herewith, five reasons USC might not win the Pac-10:

The Hidden Helmsman: Matt Leinart, the USC quarterback, is on the cover of everything from USA Today to Pipefitters Illustrated after his unconscious 2003 season. But he might not be the best quarterback in the Pac-10.

Cal's Aaron Rodgers was so good, he was inserted into the starting lineup for the Bears last year despite Reggie Robertson's 62 percent completion rate in the first three games.

The Jeff Tedford-is-God Theory: All the Cal coach did was take the Bears from a 1-10 record in 2001 to 7-5 the next season, and when they lost more key seniors than anybody else, maneuvered them to an 8-6 record and a bowl victory over Virginia Tech.

Cal's win against USC last season came about when Tedford flummoxed the Trojans by reversing some offensive tendencies.

The Pac-10 Parity Party: You know how it goes in this conference, where every program except Cal, Oregon State and Arizona has played in the Rose Bowl in the past decade.

"The Pac-10 has proven to be very cyclical," said Oregon State coach Mike Riley, once an assistant coach at USC.

	STEPHEN DUNN / GETTY IMAGES Pete Carroll enters his fourth season as Trojans coach with three new assistants on his staff, including son Brennan.

True enough. On the other hand, Lance Armstrong is also cyclical, and he's won six straight Tours de France.

Need a Receipt? Until witnessing Mike Williams and Keary Colbert on the same field, I thought the best college receiving duo I'd seen was Henry Ellard and Stephone Paige of Fresno State in the early 1980s.

Then came Williams and Colbert. Now that USC has to replace both, it won't be easy, no matter how good the recruits are.

The Carroll Carousel: Carroll has three new full-time assistants on his staff, including his son Brennan. If transition doesn't kill the Trojans, maybe nepotism will.

Of course, USC can advance a persuasive argument to counter the cold logic: It has Reggie Bush.

"Do I think they could be beaten?" asks Kellen Clemens, the Oregon quarterback. "I do. Once, but not twice."

Easy for him to say. Oregon doesn't play the Trojans this year. Talk about karma.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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