Quin Rodriguez

Quin Rodriguez had no intention of playing football in high school. A little on the smallish side, he preferred soccer, which he had played for several years, and baseball. But his best friend, Eric Valliere, didn't want to walk home alone after practice, so he persuaded Rodriguez to try out. Still, "I didn't care for football too much," Rodriguez said.

USC tailback Marc Tyler didn't last long in Saturday's game, which ended up going very long before Stanford won in three overtimes, 56-48. The Trojans' leading rusher gained three yards on his lone carry — USC's first play from scrimmage — but he aggravated a shoulder injury he suffered two weeks ago against California. Tyler walked to the locker room with about five minutes left in the first quarter. He came back to the field in the first half but did not play. When the Trojans came out for the second half, his arm was in a sling.

USC tailback Marc Tyler didn't last long in Saturday's game, which ended up going very long before Stanford won in three overtimes, 56-48. The Trojans' leading rusher gained three yards on his lone carry — USC's first play from scrimmage — but he aggravated a shoulder injury he suffered two weeks ago against California. Tyler walked to the locker room with about five minutes left in the first quarter. He came back to the field in the first half but did not play. When the Trojans came out for the second half, his arm was in a sling.

Quin Rodriguez had no intention of playing football in high school. A little on the smallish side, he preferred soccer, which he had played for several years, and baseball. But his best friend, Eric Valliere, didn't want to walk home alone after practice, so he persuaded Rodriguez to try out. Still, "I didn't care for football too much," Rodriguez said.

Corby Smith was wearing a USC Trojan T-shirt, but his heart was with the Arizona Wildcats. Smith, the 14-year-old son of USC (and ex-Arizona) football Coach Larry Smith, was near tears after the Trojans came back to beat the Wildcats, 12-10, Saturday before 51,428 fans at the Coliseum to set up next week's Rose Bowl showdown with UCLA. Corby and his mother, Cheryl, were hugging the Arizona players as they walked into the locker room after the game.

Until last week, when he missed from 27 yards against Washington State, Trojan kicker Quin Rodriguez had been successful on all 24 of his field-goal attempts from closer than 30 yards. Coach Larry Smith said Rodriguez had lined up wrong. "He hit the ball really well," Smith said. "He kicked it exactly where he had lined up. He just had a lapse (when lining up). It wasn't that he didn't hit it well, or he lost concentration. He hit it (well)."

The USC-Notre Dame series, which resumes Saturday night at the Coliseum, has been dominated in recent years by Notre Dame, which hasn't lost to the Trojans since 1982. "It's been a great seven years if you're a Notre Dame fan," Irish nose tackle Chris Zorich told Frank Welch of the San Gabriel Valley Tribune after last year's 28-24 victory at South Bend, Ind. "It's the kind of streak where the other team thinks it's jinxed.

Tailback Ryan Knight, playing mostly with the second team, ran for 64 yards in 11 carries Saturday, including touchdown runs of 15 and 8 yards, during an intrasquad scrimmage at USC. Other highlights of the 120-play scrimmage included a 19-yard touchdown run by freshman fullback Ricky Ervins, who played in the first-team backfield with freshman tailback Scott Lockwood and quarterback Rodney Peete, and field goals of 40, 44 and 52 yards by freshman Quin Rodriguez.

Notre Dame retained its ranking as the nation's No. 1 college football team by beating second-ranked USC, 27-10, Saturday at the Coliseum before a crowd of 93,829. Big plays by the Irish coupled with four turnovers by USC were the decisive factors in the game. Notre Dame quarterback Tony Rice ran 65 yards to a touchdown on an option play in the first quarter.

Todd Marinovich moved past his uncle on USC's pass completion chart and the defense returned to form as the 10th-ranked Trojans sputtered past Stanford 19-0 Saturday and extended their Pacific 10 Conference winning streak to 17. Marinovich, a redshirt freshman, completed 22 of 32 passes for 303 yards, with two interceptions. After completing a 36-yarder to John Jackson late in the game, Marinovich was replaced by Shane Foley.

Corby Smith was wearing a USC Trojan T-shirt, but his heart was with the Arizona Wildcats. Smith, the 14-year-old son of USC (and ex-Arizona) football Coach Larry Smith, was near tears after the Trojans came back to beat the Wildcats, 12-10, Saturday before 51,428 fans at the Coliseum to set up next week's Rose Bowl showdown with UCLA. Corby and his mother, Cheryl, were hugging the Arizona players as they walked into the locker room after the game.

Only once before his career at Mt. San Antonio College is over, Andy Norell would like the opportunity to make a kicker's dream come true. The Mounties will be trailing by two points with only seconds remaining. They will be 35 yards from the end zone, a field goal by Norell their only hope for victory. "Nothing like a nice 45-yarder to win it," Norell said. "I would love to have the chance." And chances are better than good that Norell would send the kick through the uprights.

USC Coach Larry Smith said that quarterback Rodney Peete is peaking after he completed 23 of 33 passes for a career-high 361 yards and 3 touchdowns Saturday against Arizona State. The same could be said for Smith's team as USC routed Arizona State, 50-0, at Sun Devil Stadium to set the stage for the Rose Bowl showdown game next Saturday against UCLA. The second-ranked Trojans, who improved to 9-0, remain the Pacific 10 Conference leaders with a 7-0 record, 1 game ahead of UCLA (9-1, 6-1).