UW, Southern Cal Focus On Rose Bowl Bid

Let’s see now. Southern Cal and Washington lead the Pac-10 race with 4-0 records.

Then there’s Oregon, which went to the Rose Bowl last season, at 3-1. Every other school has at least two conference losses.

So those three schools are the most likely to go to Pasadena, Calif., from the West Coast in 1996.

“Whoever wins this has the edge,” coach John Robinson said of today’s Pac-10 game between his No. 13 Trojans and the No. 17 Washington Huskies.

“I think it’s kind of a playoff between us” - Southern Cal, Washington and Oregon, Robinson added. “My assumption is the conference champion will have no more than one loss and may have no losses.”

Jim Lambright, Washington’s third-year coach, agreed.

“You’ve got three teams now who have a chance with us and SC and Oregon,” Lambright said. “Right now, it really mounts to be a tremendous finish.”

After losing at Notre Dame 38-10 last Saturday, the Trojans (6-1 overall) are out of the national championship picture.

So the Rose Bowl is their most important goal now.

Southern Cal is a four-point favorite to beat Washington for the third straight season. Lambright’s Huskies lost to the Trojans 24-17 last season in Los Angeles and 22-17 in Seattle two years ago.

The Trojans believe they’re on their way back in Robinson’s second stint as their head coach. He was rehired by Southern Cal on Jan. 3, 1993, after a 10-year absence to coach in the NFL (the Los Angeles Rams, 1983-91).

He’s trying to restore to the Trojans program the luster lost during the Ted Tollner and Larry Smith coaching regimes.

The Trojans are seeking to get back to the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1990, when, under Smith, they beat Michigan 12-3.

The Trojans offense feature Keyshawn Johnson, a 6-foot-4 wide receiver, who will have at least 4 inches on Washington cornerbacks Scott Greenlaw and Reggie Reser.