David Buehler is giving USC a leg up

It's the details of what precipitated it that remain foggy, much like the conditions on that chilly November night at the Coliseum two years ago.

Buehler was a backup kicker for USC, third on the depth chart.

But with USC facing fourth and long in the second half against California, coaches summoned Buehler for his first field-goal attempt as a Trojan, a 49-yarder.

"It was deer-in-the-headlights," Buehler recalls. "As I was taking my steps to get ready, I felt this shot of weakness through my legs. Maybe it was adrenaline.

"The next thing I know, the ball was in the air. I don't even remember the kick. It was just muscle memory taking over."

The ball split the uprights, tying the score, 9-9, and starting USC on its way to a 23-9 victory that clinched the Pacific 10 Conference title and a berth in the Rose Bowl.

Two years later, as USC prepares to play Cal tonight in another game with Rose Bowl implications, Buehler is an NFL prospect who is not only an accurate placekicker but also routinely puts kickoffs into and through the end zone.

"A real weapon," Coach Pete Carroll says.

But not the type that anyone, including Buehler, envisioned when USC coaches first laid eyes on him.

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Gone is the fullback-style neck roll he wore over his shoulder pads during his first season at USC.

So are the gloves, armbands and other football fashion accessories from his days as a safety and running back.

Buehler has come to terms with it: He is a kicker.

"This is what I want to do," he says.

Buehler, 6 feet 2 and 225 pounds, played linebacker and running back at Anaheim Canyon High. He was a kicker, safety, goal-line running back and a gunner on the punt-coverage unit at Santa Ana College in 2005.

USC coaches saw him clock the fastest 40-yard dash time at a junior college scouting combine the following spring and thought they had found an athlete.

"I was totally evaluating him as a defensive player," secondary coach Rocky Seto says. "I don't know that I saw any kicking drills."

Buehler marketed himself to the Trojans staff, showing them online statistics from a kicking-camp competition he won. Carroll offered a scholarship in the summer of 2006 despite the presence of kickers Mario Danelo and Troy Van Blarcom.

"I didn't know where I was going to fit in," Buehler says, "but I couldn't pass up an 'SC scholarship."