USC wrapped its arms around another bumper crop of football recruits Wednesday in an apparent attempt to bump UCLA completely out of the sports section.
OK, the situation is not that dire, although comparing UCLA's solid recruiting class to USC's cornucopia is like comparing Miss Pomona Fair to Heidi Klum.
USC's Trojans may look back on these as their Caesar salad days while UCLA, fresh off a losing season and spate of exit interviews with departing players, finds itself desperately looking forward.
Make no mistake: the Bruins' 2004 recruiting class is the envy of
"They're still bringing in guys a lot of other schools wish they had," Greg Biggins, the Southland-based director of recruiting for Student Sports, said.
One recruiting service ranked UCLA's 2004 class as high as 19th nationally -- but that may not cut it in a town where expectations are skyscraper high and the next-door-neighbor rival just won the Rose Bowl, a share of the national title and this year's recruiting lotto.
The Bruins signed 20 high school players to national letters of intent Wednesday, those recruits joining six junior college players already enrolled.
The Bruins secured an important "hold" when standout defensive end Brigham Harwell, who had wavered between UCLA and Arizona State, signed with the Bruins.
UCLA Coach Karl Dorrell said he was well aware of what was going on across town.
"They're doing as good as anybody in the country right now," he said of USC. " ... but you can't let that sidetrack what's important within your own program ..."
The remarkable thing is not that USC has pulled away from UCLA -- it's how far the Trojans have distanced themselves so fast.
Six games into the 2001 season, UCLA was 6-0 and ranked No. 4 in the nation after a 56-17 win over California. That same Saturday, Oct. 20, USC lost at Notre Dame and Coach Pete Carroll's first-year record fell to 2-5.
Since, USC has gone 27-4 while UCLA is 15-16.
In the tenuous, win-now world of college football, players flock to the front-runners.
"It's a bandwagon society," David Norrie, former UCLA quarterback and current college football analyst for ABC, said this week.
These days, that wagon is hitched to a white horse.
There is no 15-yard penalty for piling on in recruiting, but that's what USC is doing to UCLA.
Rivalry watchers have never seen anything quite like it.
"USC is on another level," Biggins said. "Unlike in Florida, where Miami, Florida and Florida State are sharing the talent, there's not talent being shared here. USC gets what it wants and UCLA gets what's left over."
Gary Bernardi, a 10-year UCLA assistant who was the Bruins' tight ends coach and national recruiting coordinator before he was fired after last season, can only admire what USC has done.
"It's easy to say, 'Gawd, what's wrong with UCLA,' " Bernardi said.
"Yeah, there are some problems. There have been some ups and downs. But [the Trojans] have done a wonderful job."
UCLA dominated the 1990s, winning eight consecutive games against USC and, in 1998, secured what many believed was the nation's top recruiting class.
Things changed in a Pete Carroll-minute. The Internet has moved information at warp speed and, well, news gets around.
A program can rise and fall on a coaching change, a bowl win, a reputation or a whisper.
High school players know the score and sense shifts in momentum.
"If you're looking to stem the tide going in to the 2004 season, it's not going to happen, period, it can't happen," Norrie said. "USC has too much momentum, too many great players."
UCLA is scrambling to find traction as public perceptions harden.
The face of USC is that of a hard-charging Carroll, who has ignited USC with his energy, enthusiasm, attacking defense and wide-open offense.
The face of UCLA is Dorrell, his deadpan sideline demeanor seen by some as a metaphor for a young program that hasn't found its footing.
"I don't want to get down on Karl after one year," Norrie said, "but I'll tell you what, there are a lot of people who are down on him."
There's a sense key players are begging to get out of UCLA, not in.
Recently, quarterbacks Matt Moore, John Sciarra and tailback Tyler Ebell have sought work elsewhere.
Matt Ware, a marquee defensive back, elected to make himself available for the NFL draft.
"The perception of the whole program is that they've just been steadily declining for the last three or four years," Biggins said. "Until they actually go win nine games and a bowl game, that's going to be the perception."
How did UCLA football get so far off message?
Blame it on a combination of ill-fated decisions, unforeseen circumstances, loss of recruiting momentum, lack of coaching-staff continuity and woefully inconsistent play at quarterback.
The situation is magnified because UCLA's dip has coincided with USC's meteoric rise.
UCLA, after winning eight in a row, has lost its last five against USC.
And a win in the USC-UCLA series buys more than bragging rights.
