COLLEGE FOOTBALL DAILY REPORT : USC : Bruin-Trojan Game Short of a Sellout

Bruin officials said Wednesday that several thousand tickets remain for Saturday’s USC-UCLA game at the Rose Bowl.

Since 1980, four games in the series have failed to sell out: 1983 (83,763, at the Coliseum), 1984 (90,096, Rose Bowl), 1991 (84,623, Coliseum) and 1992 (80,568, Rose Bowl).

Record crowd: 103,303 in 1939. Result: A scoreless tie.

Last six-digit crowd: 100,741 in 1988, at the Rose Bowl.

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John Robinson, on Rob Johnson’s recurring ankle injury:

“What we do now is, we drag him off the field and slap some more tape on the ankle. Then he comes over to me and says: ‘OK, I’m ready to go back in.’ He’s afraid of (Brad) Otton getting too much playing time. When you’re a starting quarterback anywhere for a period of years, you’re subject to a lot of scrutiny, and there are always critics. But that game Rob played against Arizona was as good a game as any quarterback ever had for me.” . . . In the seesaw battle for the conference punting lead, UCLA’s Darren Schager is leading USC’s John Stonehouse, 43.9 yards per punt to 43.7. . . . Robinson, on the UCLA game: “It’s an even game. I don’t think there’s a favorite. Right now, UCLA is as good as anyone in the Pac-10, including us.”