COLLEGE FOOTBALL / DAILY REPORT : USC : Others Join Game at Their Own Risk

Call it combat basketball. Two USC assistant coaches, Ricky Hunley and Charles White, occasionally play full-court basketball at noon in USC’s men’s gym.

Combined years in the NFL: 16. Get in the way of these two, and you get a ride in an ambulance.

“Actually, just avoiding the collisions is a good workout,” quipped 5-foot-5, 135-pound Olan Cuarto, who works in the university receiving office.

“One time I sent Charles White up into the air over me with a fake jump shot, but while he was up there he kicked me in the head.”

*

Coach John Robinson, on 6-6, 250-pound senior tight end Brad Banta: “He’ll play 10 years in the NFL, and not just because he’s a good tight end but because he’s also a punt and field-goal snapper.”

*

If you can figure this out, USC defensive coordinator Don Lindsey would like to hear from you: Through nine games, USC (5-4) has been outscored in the first half, 131-126. In the second half, USC has outscored opponents, 106-36.

USC has four second-half shutouts and in three other games didn’t surrender a second-half touchdown. The Trojans even outscored Notre Dame, 6-3, in the second half of a 31-13 loss.

*

Robinson, on Cal linebacker Jerrott Willard of Newport Beach, who was in on 22 tackles against USC last Saturday: “I think he’s the best linebacker we’ve seen this year. I’m going to vote for him for all the awards he’s up for.”