Washington State defensive end Dorian Boose has a sore right wrist that may be broken, meaning the junior standout will probably wear a protective cast during Saturday night’s home football game against USC.

Boose injured the wrist in the first half of last week’s 21-18 victory over California, but continued playing after a halftime examination indicated no fracture. X-rays taken Monday were negative, but trainer Mark Smaha suspects the wrist could still be broken.

“Sometimes the fracture doesn’t show up on the X-ray the first time,” Smaha said. “He is symptomatic of that type of fracture - he has tenderness in the right place, he has swelling, it’s pretty sore.

“We’re going to treat it like a fracture right now, so he’ll be immobilized and may even be wearing a cast Saturday. And we’ll X-ray him in the next three weeks.”

Boose said the injury occurred when he turned to assist teammate Leon Bender, who was working against 350-pound Cal tackle Tarik Glenn. Boose said the hand jammed against Glenn and bent backward.

The injury could mean more playing time for Jonathan Nance. The 220-pound Nance is an excellent speed rusher - his seven sacks rank second in the Pacific-10 Conference - but the 280-pound Boose is more versatile.

Freshman linebacker Steve Gleason, who missed the Cal game after having arthroscopic knee surgery, is expected to be ready for the 7:22 p.m. kickoff against USC.

Senior cornerback Shad Hinchen, who suffered a concussion while delivering a big hit against Cal, will not be rushed back into the lineup. He’ll be evaluated on a daily basis.

The situation is especially delicate because Hinchen sustained three concussions last season.

A sideline official doubled over in pain and remained on the turf for several minutes Saturday night after an extension cord snapped and struck him below the belt.

According to witnesses, the cord snapped when a WSU offensive lineman became entangled and yanked violently on it - moments after coach Mike Price decided to punt on fourth-and-1.

, DataTimes