Conway Goes for the Gold : USC: Receiver/kick returner says injury against Fresno State figured in decision to try the NFL early.

On the last play of the first half of USC’s 24-7 loss to Fresno State Tuesday night in the Freedom Bowl, Trojan quarterback Rob Johnson lofted a desperation pass down the left sideline toward flanker Curtis Conway.

Strong safety Sam Watson moved over to cover for Fresno.

“I saw the ball,” Watson said, “but I couldn’t get there, so I just went for a good lick.”

Conway said Wednesday that Watson’s hit helped push him out of college football.

He landed awkwardly, suffering a strained left knee.

Although he already was leaning that way, Conway said the injury, which kept him out of the second half, was the “icing on the cake,” prompting him to announce that he is giving up his senior year of eligibility to make himself available for the NFL draft.

He is the fifth USC player in the last four seasons to declare early for the NFL draft, joining Mark Carrier, Junior Seau, Todd Marinovich and Mazio Royster.

Willie McGinest, an all-Pacific 10 Conference linebacker, could make it six. McGinest, a junior, said Wednesday that he will make an announcement regarding his future on Monday.

Conway, who will turn 22 next month, said that he left Tuesday night’s game reluctantly.

“When I went in the locker room, I felt a little pain in my knee, but I kept trying to test it out and it was fine,” he said. “So, when I went back out to the field, I was running and stuff on it. It felt all right, but the trainers said I shouldn’t play.

“Once I got back in the locker room to undress out of my uniform, something just said, ‘Curtis, the Lord is telling you something. This could have been an injury that blew out your knee and you wouldn’t have been able to play (ever again).’

“The first thing that came to my mind was, what if I was a senior in my last game--and one of the top players in the draft--and my knee would have been (blown) out?

“I was scared. Actually, I started (crying) a little bit.”

A former state sprint champion at Hawthorne High, Conway accounted for 1,822 all-purpose yards this season as a flanker and kick returner.

He caught 49 passes for 764 yards and was second on the team in scoring, accounting for touchdowns as a runner, receiver, kickoff returner and punt returner. He also threw a touchdown pass.

He has been projected by some as a top-five draft pick.

“We wish Curtis well and trust that this decision will work out well for him,” Coach Larry Smith said in a prepared statement released by the sports information office. “I’ve said it before: Curtis Conway is an impact player. With his speed and football instinct, he’s a threat to score every time he touches the ball.”

Said Conway, an only child who was raised by his mother and grandmother in South-Central Los Angeles: “My decision was based on making a better life for my family. It had nothing to do with (possible elimination of) the draft, it had nothing to do with USC.

“The NFL has been a dream of mine since I was a kid. I figured that was one way I could help my family and put them in the best possible situation.”

Conway’s mother, Anita, who was 15 and a sophomore at Fremont High when she gave birth to Curtis, is unemployed. His grandmother, Jurldine Kidd, has lived on Social Security since her husband died in 1984.

Still, Conway said it was difficult to break the news to Smith.

“He’s been going through a lot without including me,” Conway said. “And to tell him something like that--I looked at it like, if I was in his shoes, I would be like, ‘Dang, that’s just another negative cookie in my jar.’ ”