ROSE BOWL SHOWDOWN: UCLA VS. USC : BATTLE FOR A TRIP TO THE ROSE BOWL PROVIDES. . . : A Look Back, a Look Ahead : Johnson Expects to Stay Put and Put Trojans Back on Top

A year ago, Rob Johnson spent part of this week telling reporters how his brother Bret’s celebrated beef with UCLA affected him at USC. He said he wanted to beat UCLA “a little more” than other schools.

Now, he gets the same question that every other standout junior gets: “Are you coming out early for the NFL draft?”

Johnson, 6 feet 4 and 220 pounds, has completed 69.1% of his passes for 24 touchdowns and almost 3,000 yards this season. He is second on USC’s career passing list, behind Rodney Peete. Last season, the threw for 2,118 yards and 12 touchdowns.

“I haven’t thought about it (the NFL draft) one bit,” he said Monday. “I love college football, I love this coaching staff, and right now I expect to be back.

“This program is coming back and I want to be a part of it. In fact, I told my dad I wished I’d redshirted my first year so I could have two more years left instead of one.”

Both Rob and Bret were coached by their father, Bob Johnson, at El Toro High.

“We’ve never discussed it,” Bob Johnson said of his son possibly leaving school early. “Rob’s only focus right now is on this season. I anticipate that Rob will come back next year, but it’s not for me to decide.”

Bret returned to his parents’ Mission Viejo home last week after completing his rookie season as the Toronto Argonauts’ No. 2 quarterback.

“Rob is having as good a year as a college quarterback can have,” Bret said. “. . .He’s not only accurate, but he’s got great composure on the field, and it affects the way his teammates play. When you’re cool out there, it makes guys want to play well for you. And it looks like the guys in Rob’s offense are having a lot of fun.

“We talk once a week on the phone. . . . We go over game plans and stuff. It’s good for him, it’s like reviewing for a test.”

Bret said Rob, who is 20, hasn’t discussed any NFL plans with him. “I haven’t said anything to him, and he hasn’t asked me. If he wants to go, he’s a first-rounder, there isn’t a doubt in my mind. It’s just when he wants it, this year or next.”

In 1989, Bret Johnson was UCLA’s starting quarterback as a redshirt freshman on a 3-7-1 team. The next fall, UCLA offensive coordinator Homer Smith announced Jim Bonds, not Johnson, would be the starting quarterback.

Furious, Johnson withdrew from school the next day and later transferred to Michigan State.

The scars, his younger brother said, have almost healed.

“Bret’s moved on,” Rob said. “He loves Toronto, and I’m happy for him. All that was something in the past, four or five years ago. Saturday, I’ll have enough to worry about with UCLA’s great defensive personnel without having personal things on my mind.

“Last year, maybe it was a factor for me in this game (won by UCLA, 38-37), but I’m a little more mature now.”

In early October, the Trojans had lost to Arizona, 38-7, and three weeks later they lost to Notre Dame, 31-13. At that point, USC’s chances of finishing the season in Pasadena seemed remote.

But one player believed. And Rob Johnson can’t understand why no one else did.

“Really, I never gave up on this team,” he said. “Maybe other people did. I believed all along it would come down to this (USC vs. UCLA Saturday for the Rose Bowl).

“We went through a tough time with so many offensive linemen (Joel Crisman, Tony Boselli and Kyle Ramsay) out, hurt. But we held together. Even during periods when we weren’t running the ball well, teams had to respect our running game because we have such good tailbacks and offensive linemen.”

Johnson has been notable in two categories this season-- completion percentage, best in the Pac-10, and his lack of interceptions, only four. And two of those--one against Penn State and the other against Oregon--weren’t his fault, Coach John Robinson said.

Johnson’s father was asked if he could fault any element in his son’s play this season.

“Nothing other than telling him a couple of times to get more air under his ball on deep throws,” Bob Johnson said.

His son agrees.

“Last year I was throwing to two very fast guys, Curtis Conway and Travis Hannah, and tended to throw the ball on a line,” he said. “Now I have to concentrate on giving my receivers a chance to run under the ball and make a play.”