Ah, but the NCAA found another way, passing a rule that would penalize teams one timeout if they did not wear their proper home and road jerseys. UCLA wore its road whites to the Coliseum in 1983, and the tradition died.
"It was something all of us old guys talked about, how it was something missing from the game, it just wasn't the same without both teams' home jerseys," West said.
When Carroll came to USC eight years ago, one of his first acts was to connect with former players and ask about lost traditions. The first thing those players talked about was the loss of home jerseys in the UCLA game.
"So I've been trying to do this since then," Carroll said.
He considered wearing the home jerseys in his second season in the Rose Bowl, but thought it might appear to be showboating. He then reached out to Karl Dorrell, but no agreement could be reached.
He found a kindred spirit this season in Neuheisel, then dropped the news earlier this week.
At the time, it was believed it would cost him one timeout per half, while Neuheisel had agreed only to take one timeout at the beginning of the game.
Said Carroll on Tuesday afternoon: "I don't care, I'm doing it anyway."
When the rules interpretation revealed the penalty to be only one timeout, Neuheisel could only smile.
"I think it was genius of him to figure out a way to say he was going to take the timeouts in both halves, and then find a way not to," he said of Carroll. "That was genius."
Is this rivalry great or what? Only in this game can the two coaches embrace each other and tease each other in the same sentence.
Initially, I thought Carroll's offer wasn't genius, but arrogance. It's easy to offer to give up as many as two timeouts when you are a gazillion-point favorite. It was as if he were telling UCLA he could beat them with six timeouts tied behind his back.
"It wasn't arrogance, I'm telling you, I've tried to do this for eight years," he said. "I'm serious about the tradition."
He sold me. Talking to former USC players Tuesday, they sold me, with West saying Carroll has worked hard to bring back everything from gray facemasks to black tape on cleats.
"This is just part of Pete's plan," West said. "He's been doing this sort of thing since he got here."
I also wondered whether Neuheisel's generous offer to match the timeout was real. I mean, this is a guy who could use a dozen timeouts. But it turns out, even during hard times, he remains a good sport.
"Absolutely," he said of calling the timeout. "That was the deal. I said I would do it, and I will."
It is rare that both sides in this rivalry agree on anything, but at the start of Saturday's game, here's hoping we agree on the classiness of the coaches, the sincerity of the gestures, and the history they carry.
Timeout, USC.
Timeout, UCLA.
Standing ovation, everyone.
--
bill.plaschke@latimes.com
