Picked up the Monday newspaper to see Preacher Rick coming off once again as Slick Rick. That sure didn't take long.
Ken Norton Jr., the onetime Bruin of all people and now a USC assistant coach, was slinging the mud -- obviously alluding to Colorado and Washington, two places where Neuheisel had previously self-destructed.
"It's kind of a pattern of what happened in the past," Norton said in mentioning Slick Rick's latest alleged escapade.
I'm thinking right away he's joined a football bowl pool, interested to know if he took USC or Penn State and the points.
But as it turns out, this is much more serious, Norton charging UCLA with dirty tricks and implying it's just what Neuheisel does for a living.
Norton said "UCLA" was telling recruits he might be leaving USC to join the Bruins' coaching staff, Norton then using the newspaper to tell recruits everywhere, "It's important that it's known that I'm here and I'm staying here."
Easy to believe, of course, that Neuheisel is up to something given his history of bending recruiting rules at Colorado and Washington.
Five years ago, writing for The Times, David Wharton documented many of those violations and quoted Neuheisel as telling NCAA investigators: "Was I trying to be aggressive as a young 33-year-old head coach trying to make it in a world that is extremely competitive? Was I out there trying to win favor, and so forth? There is no question."
But has he learned, as he said he learned when he arrived back at UCLA?
I read The Times' story about Norton's charges further, waiting for Norton to say it was Neuheisel who was telling the recruits he was going to be leaving USC, or maybe name the assistant coaches working for Neuheisel who were spreading the misinformation.
But instead, Norton said it was "UCLA." But who at UCLA? A coach, player, mascot with a big mouth, student, booster or some message board regular? A UCLA grad working at rivals.com?
When Norton mentioned Neuheisel's previous "pattern," it sure sounded as if he was singling him out, like he knew Neuheisel was the guilty party -- yet he was saying he was getting it from recruits.
How convenient -- since it's an NCAA violation to mention recruits by name.
I stopped by USC on Monday to ask Norton if the unnamed recruits had identified Neuheisel as the one playing dirty tricks, figuring it probably would have come up in the conversation.
