Barber Is Ready for His Turn : USC: Outside linebacker led the Trojans in tackles last year but remained outside the limelight.

Finally a starter--or so he thought--after two seasons on special teams, USC linebacker Kurt Barber unexpectedly began last season on the sideline.

Coach Larry Smith benched him at the start of the Trojans’ opener against Syracuse at East Rutherford, N.J., after Barber had arrived late for the pregame meal.

The demotion lasted only one series before Barber was sent out onto the field.

He was never tardy again.

In fact, when chasing down the opposition, Barber often arrived ahead of his fellow Trojan defenders. He was USC’s leading tackler.

But on a defensive unit that featured outspoken linebacker Scott Ross, the unassuming Barber went largely unnoticed, despite his obvious contributions, which included 11 tackles for losses totaling 44 yards.

To those who mattered most, though, Barber was clearly visible.

When the season ended, he was a second-team All-Pacific 10 selection. And the Trojans’ defensive coordinator, Chris Allen, was thankful that the 6-foot-4, 235-pound junior was less celebrated than some of his teammates.

If Barber’s efforts had been more widely publicized, Allen later explained to USC’s sports information staff, the Trojans might have lost him to the NFL.

As it was, when NFL scouts arrived on campus last spring to evaluate this year’s Trojan seniors, they were pleasantly surprised.

“They said, ‘Geez, where was this guy?’ ” Allen said. “He caught their eye, and he should because he’s really good. . . .

“He can pass drop, run support and rush the passer in combination probably better than any outside linebacker we’ve had here.”

His coaches expect Barber to be the leader of the Trojans’ defense this season. But although Barber has talked of taking a more arrogant stance as a senior, he is not sure if his personality fits the role.

“I’m just out there to get the job done,” he said. “I don’t feel like I should go out there and say, ‘You guys need to do this,’ or ‘You guys need to do that.’ I just make sure I know what I need to do and I get it done. I’m not one to speak up.”

Barber has maintained that attitude since he arrived from Tilghman High in Paducah, Ky.

“My first two years were hard because I really got no credit from guys on the team,” he said. “They were (saying), ‘Oh, he’s from Kentucky. He can’t play.’ That just made me work harder.”

Can’t play?

As a high school senior, Barber was Kentucky’s Mr. Football, averaging almost 10 tackles a game as an inside linebacker, 26 yards a reception as a flanker and scoring 24 touchdowns for a team that was 14-0 before it lost in the final game of the state playoffs.

“It was an odd combination (of positions),” Tilghman Coach Allan Cox said. “But Kurt has an awful lot of athletic ability--great hands, great height. I know in one game, he touched the ball five times and scored five touchdowns.

“What he did on both sides of the field--there was no doubt he was the best player in the state.”

And one of the best in the country. College recruiters descended upon western Kentucky to watch Barber play.

“He was talking to schools that don’t normally come around here too much,” said reporter Steve Millizer of the Paducah Sun.

Though he faced tremendous pressure to do so, Barber said he never considered signing with Kentucky or Louisville.

By the time he was a junior at Tilghman, Barber was living with friends. His mother was working as a nurse in Champaign, Ill., and his father had died a year earlier.

“I really didn’t want to stay in Kentucky,” he said. “I felt that if I stayed in Kentucky, people would have kept telling me how great I was. They’d tell me I could change the program around, but I didn’t want that. I wanted to go somewhere where I could get better.”

He made trips to Notre Dame, Michigan and USC, eventually picking USC over Michigan because two of his brothers lived in Southern California. The younger of the two, Wolf, signed with California last winter as a transfer from Pasadena City College. He may be a starter at cornerback for the Golden Bears this fall.

Once at USC, Barber was ribbed by his new teammates. They told him that Kentucky produced only basketball players.

Setting out to prove them wrong, he spent two years as a backup, but earned recognition as a sophomore from his coaches as the Trojans’ special teams player of the year.

“A lot of guys didn’t take pride in being on special teams, but I saw it as kind of a starting position,” he said. “Whenever I could get onto the field, I was happy.”

He was happiest last season, when he became a regular.

“I thought I had a good year,” he said. “I made a lot of tackles. I should have had more sacks, but I’ll make up for it this year.”

Playing in front of a more experienced secondary this fall, Barber probably will be turned loose more often as a pass rusher.

If his coaches are correct, it’s not likely that he’ll go unnoticed.

“I expect him to have a great year,” Allen said. “I expect him to pick up where he left off. At the end of last year, I didn’t see anybody who played a lot better than him. He was one of the best.”

And most punctual, too.