Biggins said UCLA was in the hunt for several impact players, including running back Adrian Peterson (who committed to Oklahoma), receiver Xavier Carter (LSU) and offensive lineman Jeff Byers (USC).
"I can rip off 10 guys that are top national guys from outside California, outside the West, that they lost as a result of the season," Biggins said.
"They were right there on a lot of guys."
UCLA has a tremendous gap to close, as wide as any since the days of John McKay.
Can UCLA stop this USC dam break?
"I think it can," said Bernardi who, before his tenure at UCLA, coached at USC. "But if USC keeps winning, and keeps continuity within its staff, then it makes it tough."
Biggins, the recruiting analyst, said winning was the only antidote.
"It doesn't take much," he said.
"You can turn things around in a two-year period. And UCLA is an easy place to win at because there's so much talent in Southern California."
He said UCLA's recruiting class this year may be misinterpreted only because USC's class was so over-the-top dominant.
"It's probably one of UCLA's weakest classes in the last five, six, or seven years," he said. "But at the same time, it's still top five in the Pac-10 and top 30 nationally."
The truth is, while USC keeps adding rooms to its power house, UCLA claims to be still laying foundation.
"We're building our program," Dorrell said. "We're continuing to build and we're going to be better than we were a year ago. It's going to be a process, though, and that's the one thing people may not understand as well...."
*
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National Signing Day
* UCLA signed 20 high school players -- 16 from California and four from Louisiana -- and six junior college players. Brigham Harwell, the Times' high school player of the year from Hacienda Heights Los Altos, is among 13 players from the Southland on the Bruins' list.
*
Bruin, Trojan Recruits
UCLA
* Brian Abraham, OL 6-6, 260, Rancho Cucamonga High
* Brandon Breazell, ATH, 6-0, 170, Edison High, Fresno
* Patrick Cowan, QB, 6-4, 200, St. John Bosco High
* Marcus Everett, WR, 6-1, 190, Chaminade High
* Scott Glicksberg, OL, 6-4, 285, Leland High, San Jose
* Ryan Graves, WR, 6-1, 180, Venice High
* Brigham Harwell, DE, 6-1, 255, Los Altos High, Hacienda Heights
* Justin Hickman, DL, 6-2, 255, Glendale College, Ariz.
