USC-UCLA 1991 : Recalling the Good, Bad and Ugly : Rivalry: Memories of past games remain clear in the minds of several former Bruin players.

The memories range from exhilaration to frustration and even to weirdness, but they are indelible in the minds of former UCLA players who played against USC.

Time hasn’t dulled their capacity to reflect on events that are as clear as if they had happened yesterday.

For Rick Neuheisel, a former Bruin quarterback, the game evokes physically painful, satisfying and even humorous memories.

Neuheisel, who coaches the Bruins’ wide receivers, first played in the game in 1979 as a freshman.

“I was on the kickoff return team, a guy in the wedge getting blown up,” Neuheisel said. “The guy I was supposed to block was Larry McGrew, who has had a long career in the NFL. It was supposed to be one of those surprise blocks.

“Unfortunately, we got beat, 49-14, so you can imagine how many times (USC) kicked off. After the third time, it was no longer a surprise. McGrew was pointing at me.”

Neuheisel, a walk-on player, didn’t become UCLA’s starting quarterback until 1983. He served his apprenticeship on special teams and as a holder for extra points and field goals.

In the 1981 game, after a redshirt year, he was the holder for Norm Johnson, who was attempting a game-winning, 46-yard field goal in the final seconds.

“I remember there was a timeout called, and I was thinking, ‘Let’s get this through the uprights,’ ” Neuheisel said. “The snap and hold were fine, and then the kick was blocked (by USC’s George Achica) and it went toward their sideline.

“I tried to run over and pick (the ball) up, make something happen, and I just got swarmed near their bench. Obviously, that was no fun at all.”

USC won, 22-21.

Neuheisel was in a kneeling position again when UCLA played USC at the Rose Bowl in 1982.

“I was holding for the extra point after our first touchdown, and they jumped offside,” Neuheisel said. “Then, it goes through my mind that I should go for two points here because it’s a free play.

“All holders in football are taught that if there is a bad snap to scream, ‘Fire, fire.’ That tells everybody it’s a bobble and to go out for a pass.”

There was no bobble, but Neuheisel figured that the worst thing that could happen was that he wouldn’t make the two-point pass and the Bruins would then kick the extra point after the penalty.

“What I didn’t calculate was that in 0.5 seconds, it would be difficult to hear the word fire with more than 100,000 people at the game--and nobody did,” Neuheisel said.

“So, I was out there by myself and given my speed, I wasn’t going to make it to the end zone by running. So I was trying to buy time. Then, I saw Paul Bergmann come open, and just as I’m throwing, I get blasted by (USC’s) Troy West and I separated my shoulder.

“Here, I’ve blown out my shoulder and I’m lying there thinking, ‘The coaches are going to kill me.’ ”

Neuheisel managed to hold for the successful extra point, after the penalty, and sheepishly went to the sideline.

“I whispered to the trainer that I thought I had broken my shoulder,” Neuheisel said. “They just took off my pads and taped it down. I have never been in such pain, but I ended up holding the rest of the game.”

David Norrie had a different perspective on the ’82 game.

“When Neuheisel got hurt, I became the second-string quarterback behind Tom Ramsey,” said Norrie, who is the commentator on UCLA’s football broadcasts.

“Then, Ramsey got knocked out of the game and I was warming up on the sideline while USC had the ball. I’ve never been so nervous, because I had hardly played at all during the season.”

Norrie didn’t get into the game as USC controlled the ball for about six minutes in the fourth quarter, scoring with no time on the clock.

After the touchdown, the Trojans still trailed, 20-19, and tried a two-point conversion attempt. UCLA nose guard Karl Morgan sacked quarterback Scott Tinsley before he could throw, to preserve UCLA’s victory.

For Ramsey, a senior, UCLA’s victory was redemption for a humiliating loss to USC.

“I was one of the three captains in 1982 along with Karl Morgan and Tom Sullivan,” Ramsey said. “I was paired with Karl as we were doing calisthenics before the USC game.

“We had talked all week about the game, and then we said, ‘Let’s not forget what those guys did to us when we were freshmen.’ ”

Ramsey, now the TV commentator for Bruin games on Prime Ticket, was UCLA’s inexperienced quarterback in that 49-14 USC romp in 1979.

Rick Purdy, an associate UCLA athletic director in charge of fund-raising, participated in some of the most memorable games.

As a starting fullback, He has a bittersweet memory of the 1966 game. The positive side for him was that the Bruins won, 14-7, in what is now known as the Norman Dow game.

Dow, a seldom-used quarterback, had replaced injured Gary Beban.

“Even though he had almost no experience, I can remember Norm being Mr. Cool the whole week of practice and during the game,” Purdy said.

Then, on Monday after the game, the team and students gathered in Pauley Pavilion, expecting to hear that they would be selected to play in the Rose Bowl.

UCLA had a 9-1 overall record, USC was 7-3.

“We were 99% sure we were going to the Rose Bowl,” Purdy said. “When the announcement was made that USC was going, I thought that Pauley Pavilion was going to be torn down. The guy who probably saved it was our coach, Tommy Prothro.

“He told the students, ‘Hey, don’t wreck our place. I don’t blame you for being upset. I am, too.’ ”

Purdy recalled that a portion of the student body walked through Westwood and blocked the San Diego Freeway out of frustration.

“That was the most disappointed I ever felt athletically because (the vote) was a travesty,” Purdy said.

USC presumably got the Rose Bowl bid, in voting by faculty representatives, because it had a 4-1 record to UCLA’s 3-1 in Athletic Assn. of Western Universities games--even though the Bruins had beaten the Trojans.

The Rose Bowl selection process is more precise today, with various automatic tiebreakers.

“That was my one great chance to get to the Rose Bowl,” Purdy said.

Purdy had another opportunity in 1967 when the teams not only played for the Rose Bowl berth, but also the national championship.

That game is known as the Zenon Andrusyshyn, or O.J. Simpson, game--depending on one’s viewpoint.

Andrusyshyn was UCLA’s kicker, and he confided in Purdy before the game.

“He said he had a vision that he had to wear a golden shoe and then he would be guaranteed not to miss,” Purdy said. “Zenon asked me to intercede on his behalf, but Prothro said absolutely not.”

USC won, 21-20, as Andrusyshyn had two field-goal tries blocked and missed a critical extra-point attempt. John McKay, USC’s coach, had noticed in films that Andrusyshyn was a low-trajectory kicker. So he overloaded his line on one side with tall players.

Simpson scored the winning touchdown on a now-legendary 64-yard run in the fourth quarter.

“My roommate throughout college was Mark Gustafson, who was a defensive back,” Purdy said. “I was on the sideline when O.J. cut back on his run. Gustafson had an angle on him. But I realized that even though Mark had an angle, it wasn’t enough and he wasn’t going to catch O.J.”

There are other memories. . . .

Back to Neuheisel, the battered holder and lightweight wedge-breaker who finally became a starting quarterback in 1983.

UCLA trailed USC, 10-6, at halftime, when the Bruins learned that Washington State was leading Washington. If the Huskies lost and the Bruins won, UCLA would go to the Rose Bowl.

“It was like lighting a fuse,” Neuheisel said. “We scored 21 points in the third quarter, and I threw a seven-yard touchdown pass to Karl Dorrell. We won, 27-17, and went to the Rose Bowl.

“That was more fun than the previous experiences I had against the Trojans.”

Ed Kezirian, UCLA’s offensive line coach, was a tackle on the 1972-73 Bruins.

USC, on its way to the national championship in 1972, beat UCLA, 24-7.

“All I can remember of the 1972 game was (Trojan guard) Jeff Winans’ calf muscles. He put me on my back and was running by me,” Kezirian said.

In 1973, USC was the underdog to UCLA, which employed a wishbone-style offense. However, the Trojans won, 23-13.

“Both games were for the Rose Bowl,” Kezirian said. “We were favored in 1973, and it was a big disappointment,” Kezirian said. “If anything, we were a little too confident, and that confidence was a rallying point for them.”

Norrie, who didn’t get into the USC game in 1982, was the starting quarterback in 1985.

The Bruins were heavily favored and played like it but kept making mistakes, losing three fumbles inside the USC 20-yard line.

“It was the most frustrating game you can ever imagine,” Norrie said. “I came off of the field after (Bruin) Eric Ball fumbled at the USC one-yard line while we were leading, looked up at the sky and thought, ‘Somebody doesn’t want us to win.’ It was the strangest, weirdest game I’ve ever been in.”

UCLA lost, 17-13, but still went to the Rose Bowl when Arizona upset Arizona State, 16-13, that evening.

The game is special for anyone who played in it, and even though UCLA and USC are also-rans in the Pacific 10 Conference race this season, a capacity crowd of 92,516 is expected for Saturday’s game at the Coliseum.

UCLA (7-3) is favored over USC (3-7).

Purdy’s memories of the game are still vivid.

“I was a starting fullback for three years, but what I remember beyond anything else is walking onto the Coliseum field as a sophomore and seeing all blue on one side and cardinal on the other. I get tingly when I think about it right now.”