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If It’s Friday, It’s Time For A USC Notes Column

Pete Carroll, who interviewed for the Chicago Bears job on Thursday, will interview next week with the Las Vegas Raiders. If I was signed up for his USC class that starts next week I’d start getting nervous.

  • Former USC assistant basketball coach Bob Cantu is opening “Bob Cantu’s Pizza and Sports Bar” in San Luis Obispo on Feb. 1.
  • USC plays Illinois on Saturday in basketball. Will Eric Musselman shake hands with Illini coach Brad Underwood after the game?
  • And now for some history:
  • Let’s tell a story about a tailback who can really rank up there with anyone in USC history: Ricky Bell.

You probably remember that Bell gained 347 yards in 51 carries against Washington State in a 23-14 Trojans’ victory at the Kingdome on Oct. 9, 1976. The NCAA record at the time was 350 yards by Eric “The Flea” Allen of Michigan State in 1971.

Ricky Bell vs. Washington State in 1976

USC coach John Robinson and the Kingdome crowd thought Bell had broken the NCAA record on the second-to-last play of the game, when a 5-yard run gave him 354 yards.

However, it turned out the Washington State stat crew mistakenly gave Bell a 7-yard run by Charles White earlier in the game. The stat crew realized the error and fixed it but they never relayed the information to the USC coaching staff and Bell was removed for the final play, so he fell just shy of the record.

“I’m not disappointed I didn’t get the record,” Bell said. “You writers are more disappointed than I am. The only reason I feel bad is because you guys feel bad. I’m not going for stats.”

Robinson, however, was disappointed.

“It’s really a shame,” Robinson said. “We ought to put an asterisk by his name. It was such an unbelievable performance. I’m amazed just thinking about it especially since it came in a nip-and-tuck game. Most guys get records like that in one-sided games.”

Nearly 50 years later, neither Bell nor Allen’s totals are even in the Top 10 single-game rushing marks.

Robinson marveled at Bell’s performance after the game.

“I’ve never been around a man equal to him,” Robinson said. “The tougher the game got, the tougher he got. He punishes tacklers as much as anyone I’ve ever seen. I’ll bet Washington State doesn’t recover for two weeks.”

That part wasn’t far from the truth.

“It was the worst, as a team, we’ve ever been beaten up,” Washington State nose guard Dean Pedigo said. “We were all stiff and sore.”

  • Last week, I wrote about the 1975 Rose Bowl, where USC defeated Ohio State, 18-17. There was a key fourth-down play where tailback Allen Carter got a first to set up the game-winning touchdown.

It reminded me that legendary USC assistant Dave Levy told me Carter was the best tailback on the team during his career but. He was the starting tailback on the great 1972 team until he suffered leg injuries. During his USC career, Carter rushed for 1,100 yards in just 184 carries.

It was a bold statement by Levy because he would never say who the best running back was during his tenure (1960-75) and he coached a lot of greats, including Willie Brown, Mike Garrett, O.J. Simpson, Clarence Davis, Anthony Davis and Bell.

  • Can you imagine Lincoln Riley doing this? Or Jen Cohen? Or Carol Folt?

In 1976, USC coach John Robinson, athletic director Dick Perry and president John Hubbard spoke to 600 USC students who paid $4 to hear them speak (dinner included).

It was held at the Town and Gown banquet room. I’ll bet Riley couldn’t even find Town and Gown without his driver or another lackey directing him.

  • Here’s something I didn’t know. Doug Krikorian told me that he worked at the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner with Morton Moss, who was the great-grandfather of former USC QB Miller Moss.

Morton Moss was the sports editor and sports and television columnist for the old Los Angeles Examiner and later the combined Herald-Examiner newspapers. He was also a published poet under the name Moss Herbert.

When the Examiner and Herald Express merged in 1962, Moss became TV editor and columnist and later telegraph editor until his retirement in 1979.

The prolific sports writer/screenwriter John Schulian wrote that “In the Fifties, the brightest lights in L.A. sportswriting were Maxwell Stiles at the liberal Mirror and Morton Moss at the Examiner, Hearst’s morning paper.”

A DIFFERENT TIME

The quality of entertainment on campus was just different in the 1970’s.

In October, 1976, you had Academy-Award nominee Dorothy McGuire performing in the play “Sweet Bird of Youth” on campus.

Then you had Kenny Rankin performing at the Homecoming concert:

And for good measure, England Dan and John Ford Coley performed at the Student Activities Center for a lunch-time concert.

  • This graduation scene was filmed at USC for the 1978 film, “The Other Side of the Mountain, Part 2.”
  • George Carlin performed at Bovard Auditorium in 1977 and included “the seven words you can’t say on TV” in his show.

PICTURE OF THE WEEK

Doug Krikorian said he enjoyed the pictures of Vikki Dougan in this column, so here are two more. She just turned 96 on New Year’s Day.

VIDEO OF THE WEEK

I could probably post SCTV clips every week but here’s the Liberace Christmas Special. Don’t miss John Candy as Orson Welles.

43 thoughts on “If It’s Friday, It’s Time For A USC Notes Column”

      2. “So when Boaz laid down on the threshing floor, Ruth laid down beside him and uncovered his feet and the two knew one another.” Ruth 3:4

        Liked by 1 person

  2. Hello Dougie

    Miss you on 710

    Sports radio 710 is absolute garbage

    570 is good with Patrick, Rodney Rogsn and Petros

    710 on the other hand, ouch

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    1. To this day the best LA Sports talk show was the McDonald-Douglas show. Big Joe and Doug got each other and the show just flowed and was entertaining for all those years. I still remember the fight that Petros and Big Joe had over UCLA QB Patrick Cowan. Classic radio.

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  5. Robinson talks about the pounding Bell laid on WSU and how they would be sore for two weeks after the game. How about the pounding of 51 carries on Bell. Don’t think a coach could do this today even if it was an effective strategy. McKay scoffed at it – “the ball ain’t heavy and there ain’t no union.”

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  6. Bell carries the ball 51 times so a lot of Washington St tacklers had to bring him down 10 times or more. I bet they hated seeing Bell coming at them. Of course Bell too would have his ‘bell rung, or as Petros once said about carrying the ball, he couldn’t get out of bed

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    1. Preachy Dingbat Democrat ESPN Reporterette Tries to Push Woke Narrative, Notre Dame Football Head Coach Marcus Freeman Pushes Back

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      3. Upon reviewing the Dougan photos, it appears that Kim Kardasian has attempted to copy her look. The clothes that show off her cleavage, hips, and the small of her back and the photos that emphasize them. I don’t think Ms. Dougan made a video though and I am sure that her mom wasn’t involved in distributing it. And since she dated Reggie Bush and other football team members there is a Trojan connection that qualifies if for the column.

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      4. Cowardly Gabby’s hero Governor Mimbo & his Democrat stooges are so busy obsessing over Trump that they forgot to prepare the state for fire season and portions of Los Angeles were reduced to a pile of ashes.https://x.com/ZavalaA/status/1877476444193898890?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1877476444193898890%7Ctwgr%5E8214fd0c77002283ee30eb54fc0a505c366cb66b%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thegatewaypundit.com%2F2025%2F01%2Fdemocrat-speaker-california-state-assembly-turns-stuttering-mess%2F

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      5. Just like many cities in other parts of the world, when the USA went with dementia, incompetence & weakness in 2021 to lead the free world! But the Hollywood elites will never admit they are now getting a dose of what they supported in 2020 and many of them again this year. Fortunately, our death toll will not come close to the more than 500K who have died as a result of thinking Peace Through Weakness was a good plan!

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  8. Liberace, he was a ‘one of a kind’ guy when gays were not coming out of the closet, but he never spent any time in there

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      1. Cowardly Gabby’s hero Governor Mimbo is on a televised crying session with outgoing puppet Senile Joe about “misinformation” after the LA Times debunks his lies about the empty reservoir in the Palisades . Gavin Newsom MUST RESIGN!

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  9. First time I rooted for Notre Dame, kind of, although it was by default because I like Penn St even less, but what was the ‘Lions quarterback thinking when he could have played it safe and gone into overtime?

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    1. Leaked Memo Exposes Incompetent Democrat LA Mayor Karen Bass’ $49 Million Fire Department Budget Cut Demand Just One Week Before Wildfires Erupted — Plan Would Shut Down 16 Fire Stations!

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  10. Mr. Wolf, I know people tend to gripe about you in the comments sections but I greatly appreciate the historical aspects of USC. You are doing a great job and thank you so much for this blog.

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  11. Here’s my true Dick Perry Athletic Director story. In 1977-77 I worked at the Hollywood Bowl and we had a softball team that played for publicity, fun, and sometimes charity. One time we played the disc jockies at radio station KRTH Oldies101, for example. I had called the athletic department general number and left a message inquirng if, and how we could use the USC baseball Bovard Field for a celebrity softball game. One day as I lived out in Whittier, the communal family phone rang (before answering machines, a digital recording or cel. phones) and was walking by and picked it up and the voice on the other line sai “may I speak to G—, this is Dick Perry from USC… I am calling to discuss his request to use Bovard Field…” LOL can you imagine Pat Haden, Lynn Swann, or Jen whateverhernameis, etc.. calling a 19 year old kid on his home number ????

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  12. Dementia Joe in his press conference RIGHT NOW: “Telling the truth matters.”

    Shortly after he reneged on his word not to pardon Hunter! CLASSIC Dims…accusing others of what they’re guilty!! Just as our favorite poster does, especially with the names under which she posts. One of my favorites is when she reminds herself of the penalty she faces, if she acts on her urges with minors! LOL

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      1. More whining and crying…..why the constant insecurity….. must s u c k owning a ghost blog that has been reduced to s o c k=≈=puppets

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  13. Georgia transfer quarterback Carson Beck has committed to Miami, with Beck posting the news on Instagram. SC was never in the running.

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    1. speaking Miami, you showed why you’re the blog coward by not showing for your a s s whipping. Plus, you continue to.avoid Barstow…..p u s s y=≈≈b o i

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  14. Scooter and everyone,

    Good afteernoon. I live near Lake St. and woodbury. St. Elizabeth is my grammer school. From New york Drive which is two blocks north of me and going north, Altadena on Lake St. is 95% burned. That includes schools, post office, small businesses, 5 schools, two churches and homes. One of my best firends lost her hom and other people I know lost their homes. By the Grace of Jesus, i was unscathed. I am sorry that I have not checked in earlier but I have been busy. I thank you for your prayers.

    Now, as far as I am concerned, the new District Attornies first job is to have Bass, the LESBO Fire chief, the dwp head chief, and Nero Newsom arrested while they are on camera. I am hoping that everyone who is affected by the fires sue all of these people personally for loss. These people need to be stirpped of all of their assets. Aresst the City council. I have seen the National Guard and I told them to shoot the looters on sight. St. Elizabeth and Sacred Heart in West Altadena are safe.

    I thank the fir3efighters, police, sheriff, chp, and National Guard for the great job tha they have done. I went to Mass to thank Jesus for saving my house. I have friends that I have known for over 30 years lose their homes. I am hurt, pissed, and angry on what has happened. I know people in Palisades that lost their homes. Heads must roll. Bring back the guilltine and use it. Start with Nero Newsom

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    1. So glad that you are safe and still have your home PT. Also grateful that Saint Elizabeth church was unaffected. It is such a beautiful church with the stain glass and wood and grotto in the back. I am pissed too. What do we ask of our government – protect our property, keep us safe. What do these clowns do? Spend our money on benefits to illegals and the drug addicted homeless who have no interest in getting clean. And then cut the police and fire budgets, not prosecute looters, no cash bail, and ignore the fact that the water reservoirs are empty. And Bass stated that the number one priority of her administration was DEI. Really? Why don’t you hire competent people who know how to do their job so that fire hydrants have water in them.

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      1. Plow,

        Thank you for the very kind words. St. Elizabeth is my grammerschool. I love the grotto. I go over there once in awhile to say a rosary. the church was built in 1917. They used this church and the church just to the south in the original War of the Worlds iwth Raymond burr in 1954. Garcetti is not innocent of this. Arrest his ass as well. People need to be prosecuted to the fullest of the law. Why hasnt the District Attorney already aresseted these criminals. I am so pissed off.

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      2. Pacific Palisades Reservoir Found Empty and Offline During Firestorm Catastrophe – 117 Million Gallons Could Have Saved the Day! ….And then more resources could have been used for the Altadena fire.

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      3. PT is a limp——dic racist t r o l l……yet claims to be a religious man…..tooooooo funnnnnny

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