Winning Is Only Thing for White

TEMPE, Ariz. —  USC’s LenDale White broke out with a record-setting performance the last time he played at Sun Devil Stadium.

But the junior running back said he would be happy just to contribute today when the top-ranked Trojans play 14th-ranked Arizona State before a sellout crowd and national television audience.

Two years ago, White rushed for 140 yards -- at the time, a school record for a true freshman -- and scored two touchdowns in 21 carries as USC came from behind to defeat Arizona State.

The victory is regarded as a turning point for a program that has won 25 consecutive games.

“That was the first time I got to carry the load like that,” White said this week. “There’s nothing to prepare you for that until you actually do it.

“Now I’m a couple years stronger. I’m ready for whatever.”

White led the Trojans in rushing the last two seasons.

Reggie Bush currently leads USC with 333 yards in 40 carries. White has gained 240 yards in 38 carries.

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Mark Carrier, a former All-American safety at USC, said this week that Trojan safety Darnell Bing is playing on a level that could make him the second USC player to win the Thorpe Award, presented annually to the nation’s top defensive back.

Carrier, who is in his second season as an assistant coach for Arizona State, won the award in 1989.

Bing, like Carrier a Long Beach Poly High graduate, returned an interception for a touchdown against Hawaii. Last week against Oregon, he aggressively broke up three consecutive passes in one second-quarter series.

“One minute, he’s breaking up a pass. ... The next play he’s pressuring the quarterback and then stopping the run,” Carrier said. “He makes plays at all of them. All-around. That’s what a Thorpe Award winner does.”

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Lisa Love, who became Arizona State’s athletic director July 1, was a senior associate athletic director at USC from 1991 to 2005.