'Cats-ASU tiff caps off bitter rivalries.

Byline: Pac-10 Notes by Bob Clark The Register-Guard

THE PAC-10'S RIVALRY GAMES have already produced a couple of riotous situations, in Berkeley and Pullman, and now comes Arizona State at Arizona.

Strap on the helmets. And that goes for the players on the field, too.

This might be the ugliest of all the big games in the conference. One year in Tucson, a couple of administrators almost got into it on the field. There have been cheap shots and cheaper hits.

`It's not a weak rivalry,' Arizona receiver Bobby Wade said. `It's a true hate.'

That was shown last year when the Wildcats won in Tempe and UA running back Clarence Farmer led a group of teammates to midfield where they stomped on the Sun Devil logo (hmmm ... something familiar about that) and the melee ensued.

The Sun Devils haven't forgotten.

`It was sad it was the happiest day of their lives,' ASU kicker Mike Barth said. `Act like you've won before.'

Whoa, nasty words from a kicker. This is serious.

`Certainly what happened at the end of the game last year didn't do much to promote a healthy relationship between the two schools,' ASU coach Dirk Koetter said. `There hasn't been one day go by in the last 365 that I haven't thought about that day.'

ON TO NEXT YEAR: That rivalry and two other games being all that's left of 2002, it's time to take an early look at what 2003 holds for the Pac-10.

Look out, the league will be loaded. That's assuming a large group of talented juniors - Terrell Suggs at ASU, Rien Long at WSU among them - come back for their senior seasons.

The biggest coaching change being thrown around now - assuming John Mackovic survives at Arizona - is that USC offensive coordinator Norm Chow is headed for Utah as the head coach to replace Ron McBride.

Here's the early preview.

ARIZONA: 'Cats return seven starters on offense, though they'll need to settle a quarterback battle between scrambler Nic Costa and 6-6 Ryan O'Hara. One key will be a return to health for Farmer, the 1,000-yard rusher of '01.

On defense, six starters return, and that doesn't include cornerback Michael Jolivette, out most of '02 with an injury and one of the leaders of the `Dump Mackovic' contingent.

For a schedule, 'Cats miss Stanford, have Oregon, USC, UCLA and Washington coming to Tucson and have nonleaguers against LSU, UTEP, Purdue and TCU.

ASU: Devils return all offensive starters except tight end Mike Pinkard, and there's not a senior in two-deep on line. They return eight on defense, counting Suggs, with both linebackers and a safety lost. They also lose Barth.

ASU misses Washington in '03, and has USC, UO, Cal and Arizona at home. Nonleague foes are Northern Arizona, Iowa, North Carolina and one game to be added.

CALIFORNIA: Hit as hard as any team in league, with 15 seniors starting against Stanford. Offense loses six in quarterback Kyle Boller and tailback Joe Igber plus the two best receivers and two linemen. Defense loses nine starters, and also gone is kicker Mark Jensen.

Bears don't play WSU in '03, and have USC, OSU, Arizona and Washington at home. Nonleague slate is Southern Mississippi, Colorado State and at Utah and Illinois.

OREGON: Ducks return nine offensive starters, losing receiver Keenan Howry and lineman Corey Chambers, but he was only part-time starter. Defensively, Ducks lose four starters in ends, middle linebacker and rover. Still waiting on final decisions by tailback Onterrio Smith and free safety Keith Lewis on whether they might declare for NFL. Ducks also must replace punter.

The schedule calls for miss of USC with WSU, Stanford, Cal and OSU in Autzen. Nonleague foes are Mississippi State and Utah on road, Nevada and Michigan at home.

OSU: Only losses on offense are receiver Shawn Kintner and one lineman, but defense loses six starters from Civil War, including top lineman (Eric Manning), both outside linebackers (replacing Nick Barnett won't be easy), both cornerbacks and a safety, though the latter is where standout sophomore Mitch Meeuwsen was backup because of injury.

Schedule calls for miss of UCLA, with Arizona, ASU, Washington and Stanford coming to Reser. Nonleague schedule is Fresno State on the road and Sacramento State, New Mexico State and Boise State at home.

STANFORD: Cardinal lose five starters on offense, including both running backs. Defense loses three starters, most notably the tackles.

Stanford doesn't play Arizona in '03, with WSU, UCLA, ASU and California at home. Will play 11 games again, so nonleague schedule is San Jose State and Notre Dame at home and BYU on the road.

UCLA: Bruins return eight starters on offense (losing tight end Mike Seidman and two linemen, Mike Saffer and Bryce Bohlander) and seven on defense (losing linebacker Marcus Reese and corner Ricky Manning). Also lose punter/kicker Nate Fikse.

Bruins don't play OSU, with Washington, Cal, ASU and Ducks in Rose Bowl. Nonleague foes are Illinois and San Diego State at home and Colorado and Oklahoma on road.

USC: Trojans return six starters on both offense and defense, and departures include quarterback Carson Palmer and safety Troy Polamalu.

Trojans don't play Ducks in '03 and have Stanford, WSU, OSU and UCLA at home. Nonleague road games are Auburn and Notre Dame, with BYU and Hawaii in Los Angeles.

WASHINGTON: Huskies return seven defensive starters, and secondary will add Roc Alexander, best pass defender who was injured this year. On offense, UW loses receiver Paul Arnold along with tight end and one lineman, so eight return. Dawgs do need to replace kicker and punter, too.

Schedule miss is ASU, with Stanford, USC, Oregon and WSU in Seattle. Nonleague foes are Ohio State on road and Indiana, Idaho and Nevada at home.

WSU: Cougars lose five offensive starters, including quarterback Jason Gesser and receivers Mike Bush and Jerome Riley. Defense returns eight starters, but one loss is cornerback Marcus Trufant. Both kicker and punter return.

Cougars don't play Cal in '03, with Arizona, OSU, UCLA and ASU coming to Pullman. Nonleague road games are Notre Dame and Colorado (on consecutive Saturdays) with New Mexico and Idaho at home, though one of those might be switched to Seahawks Stadium.

Rating the Pac-10

1. USC Last beat Bruins and Irish on consecutive Saturdays back in '78.

2. Washington Rick owns Northwest: 3-0 this year, 9-2 in his four years in Seattle.

3. WSU In Kegel's nine minutes and the three OTs, nine yards of total offense.

4. ASU Lombardi, Nagurski and Hendricks awards list Suggs as a finalist.

5. OSU Do you recall when this school couldn't wait for basketball to start?

6. California Most puzzling result of the season: how it lost home game to Arizona.

7. UCLA It quit playing Troy for six years last time USC ran it up that big in '30.

8. Oregon Even the new mascot opted against watching the Civil War in person.

9. Arizona Johnson most-sacked of league quarterbacks, and here comes Suggs.

10. Stanford Basketball team (3-0) already a win ahead of Cardinal football team.