UCLA FOOTBALL WATCH : AN INSIDE LOOK

Hitting the wall: In the last four games of its five-game losing streak, UCLA has either led or been tied in the second half before faltering in the crunch.

“You can feel it on the sidelines--guys getting their heads down,” backup quarterback Jim Bonds said last Saturday night after Oregon outscored the Bruins, 24-0, in the second half. “It’s just the way the whole year’s gone. You get a sense of giving up. When you lose (five) games in a row, you start to accept losing.”

Bonds suggested that UCLA has looked forward for several weeks to Saturday’s season finale against USC at the Coliseum.

“If we beat SC, that would cure a lot of things,” Bonds said. “I think we started thinking about that after losing two in a row. We gave up on part of the season and just (thought) about SC.”

They’re not offensive: In the second half of their last five games, the Bruins have produced only two touchdowns and three field goals, none in the last two weeks, including a 17-14 loss at Stanford on Nov. 4.

Bringing up the rear: If UCLA loses to USC, and Stanford and California play to a tie at Stanford, UCLA will finish 10th in the Pacific 10 Conference. UCLA, Stanford and California are tied for eighth with 2-5 conference records.