Roberson Past Is Present at Rose Bowl

Fresno State receiver Brian Roberson seems to be holding his emotions in check, but one has to wonder if he’ll be ready to burst by kickoff of tonight’s 7 o’clock nonconference game against UCLA at the Rose Bowl.

Aside from trying to win a big game, there are so many factors for this Sylmar High graduate to consider, including:

* His father, Thomas, took him to the Rose Bowl to see the Bruins many times when he was a youngster.

* He is playing in the Los Angeles area for the first time since his last high school game in December, 1991.

* Former Sylmar teammate Tyrone Pierce, a third-team defensive end for UCLA, might line up against him.

* He could be upstaged by teammate Charlie Jones, who needs five receptions to become Fresno State’s all-time reception leader with 143.

* The former Sharmon Shah, the Bruin tailback who changed his name to Karim Abdul-Jabbar, spoiled his day when Dorsey beat Sylmar, 40-13, in the City Section 4-A Division championship game in 1991.

Yet Roberson, a junior who has 20 receptions for 310 yards and ranks 13th in the nation in punt-return average (14.3 yards), has not allowed himself to fantasize about what he’ll do in the game.

“It’s pretty exciting, but I just want to win,” Roberson said.

“I’ve been watching UCLA play in the Rose Bowl for years. I always wanted to play there in front of a large crowd and in front of my friends. A lot of my friends in the Valley area will be there, a lot of Sylmar High School teachers and students.”

And so will Abdul-Jabbar, who leads the Pacific 10 Conference in rushing with 144.8 yards a game. In the 1991 City title game, Roberson returned the opening kickoff 83 yards for a touchdown. But Dorsey and Abdul-Jabbar, who rushed for 134 yards and two scores in 16 carries, had the last word.

“He had talent,” Roberson said of Abdul-Jabbar. “I tell all my friends I played against him in the playoffs. I don’t know if he remembers me. But I hope he doesn’t hurt us too bad.”

Roberson is no slouch. He caught 50 passes for 900 yards last season. In his last five games, he has 31 receptions for 523 yards and two touchdowns.

Roberson’s biggest wish, next to winning, is going up against Pierce, his former teammate with whom he occasionally attends Sunday service at the Greater Community Missionary Baptist Church in Pacoima.

“I want to see him in there,” Roberson said. “I’d like to see him across from me.”

*

Stan Fitzgerald couldn’t have been prouder Saturday after Notre Dame’s 55-27 rout of then 13th-ranked Texas. Fitzgerald was not excited about the Irish’s victory but about the performance of his son.

Longhorn tight end Pat Fitzgerald, Stan’s son, caught touchdown passes of one, 15 and 19 yards. The 6-foot-2, 225-pound junior from Agoura High and Valley College tied Pete Lammons’ 30-year-old record for most touchdowns in a game by a Texas receiver.

“Oh, yeah, I got up for the game,” said Stan Fitzgerald, who grew up a Notre Dame fan but now pulls for Texas and Pittsburgh, where another son, Sean Fitzgerald, is a reserve quarterback.

“I was excited, but I always [get butterflies] when I watch him.”

Stan said he wasn’t surprised by Pat’s success. He expects his son to be playing in the NFL two years from now.

“Maybe I was a little surprised that he was [named] player of the game for Texas,” Stan said. “Other than that, no. They were going well when they went to the tight end in the first half. But in the second half they ran a different offense. Even [TV analyst] Paul Maguire was saying the tight ends were wide open.”

Pat Fitzgerald, who caught four passes for 42 yards in the game, has 20 receptions for 221 yards and six touchdowns in 14 games with Texas. A marketing major, he is an Academic All-American candidate who carried a 4.0 grade-point average last semester and has been on the dean’s list four semesters.

*

Notre Dame sophomore defensive end John McLaughlin (Hart) forced a fumble and recovered it during a sack of Texas quarterback James Brown in the fourth quarter. The Irish scored after the turnover to take a 34-20 lead. . . .

Weber State quarterback Bryan Martin (Granada Hills) was selected NCAA Division I-AA player of the week after a 53-43 victory over Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. The junior completed 29 of 46 passes for 522 yards and five touchdowns, rushed for 92 yards and a touchdown in 13 carries, punted three times for an average of 40 yards and had two tackles on those punts. . . .

UCLA freshman Chris Sailer (Notre Dame) had an 81-yard punt last week against Washington State. . . .

In women’s soccer, freshman Stacy Schwartz (Harvard-Westlake) opened the scoring in Boston University’s 3-0 victory last week over St. Bonaventure. Hers was the first goal for Boston in Division I play.