'SC FEELS THE BURN ON BUSH.

Byline: STEVE DILBECK

These are nervous times at USC, unfamiliar and uneasy times.

Not because the offensive coordinator has checked out, some hot prep prospect was lost to Florida or Pete Carroll gazed briefly back upon the NFL.

These are the kind of anxious times where breaths are held while the smoke clears, or fingers are crossed and it's hoped the smoke clears.

Maybe it really is nothing, all these accusations of Reggie Bush and his parents accepting cash and gifts while running to glory at USC.

And maybe where there's this much smoke, the nation's finest collegiate football program ultimately becomes engulfed.

Bush could help put many troubled USC supporters at ease with a flat, strong denial.

Say it isn't so, Reggie, just say it isn't so.

Yet his rare comments on the allegations are so carefully worded as to feel uncomfortably familiar, echoing too many guilty parties from the past who tried to tiptoe around direct denials.

Since it was reported Wednesday by Yahoo.com that there are taped conversations of Bush and his family confirming they took cash and gifts, the non-response has been deafening.

Nothing from Bush. Not even some delicately crafted statement from his attorney. Not one whisper of a denial.

If the tapes exist, of course, it's rather difficult to refute.

Even those who bleed cardinal and gold have to be suspicious and a little frightened. In truth, it does not look good.

Which is still a long ways from being true, but given Bush's reticence to discuss the subject, refusal to cooperate with an NCAA investigation, and now his silence Thursday, misgivings only swell.

It has become messy and convoluted, and very threatening for USC.

There is not much for USC to do right now but wait it out. The repercussions of all this could be significant, could be nothing.

Carroll has the Trojans poised to open next season ranked first in the country. The road schedule is challenging, new standout wide receivers must emerge, agenuine No.1 tailback must still be identified. It will not be some simple run back to the BCS game.

Yet the program remains at the highest level. Only a few starters are graduating. Another top freshmen class is on schedule to arrive. This USC football renaissance could continue unabated.

The investigation is out of USC's control. If the charges against Bush are proved, he could be ruled ineligible retroactively to 2004 and USC possibly could have to forfeit its 2004 BCS title.

Perhaps more seriously, if true and the information is acquired by the NCAA, USC could face sanctions. And then -- who knows? -- maybe the NFL suddenly looks a lot more inviting to Carroll.

Bush, who as a rookie helped lead the New Orleans Saints to the NFC title game, said previously he and his family have done nothing wrong.

His strongest statement came back in April when the story broke that an investor who wanted Bush to be the firstclient for his new sports marketing agency had been allowing his family to stay in a new home rent-free in the San Diego area.

``When all is said and done, everybody will see at the end of the day that we've done nothing wrong,'' Bush said on ESPN.

Since then, Yahoo.com has reported that, while at USC, Bush and his family received nearly $280,000 in cash, rent and gifts from New Era Sports & Entertainment, co-founded by Lloyd Lake and Michael Michaels, in return for allowing them to represent Bush when he signed in the NFL.

Bush, however, did one of those lighting two-steps and signed with Mike Ornstein, the former Raiders executive, and Joel Segal. The jilted Lake and Michaels now plan to sue Bush and his family for $3.2 million next month.

It gets far murkier and unsavory than that.

Bush claimed Lake, just released from a one-year prison term for a parole violation from a prior drug conviction, was trying to extort him.

That sparked a federal investigation on extortion charges, which ironically, led to the discovery of tapes Lake supposedly made between him and Bush, and Bush's stepfather LaMar Griffin, discussing their financial agreements.

Yahoo.com has also reported that Ornstein made cash payments of $1,500 a week to the family, which Ornstein has denied. All hail a strong denial.

The charges are also being investigated by the NCAA, but since Bush is no longer at USC, he has not cooperated. USC coaches and officials have reportedly been interviewed by the NCAA.

A federal extortion probe is something else. Lake told investigators he made the tapes to protect himself should Bush back out of their deal. Bush has yet to talk to federal investigators.

None of this looks good, which is why there are some very nervous people around Heritage Hall these days.

Should the allegations be proved and the NCAA determine that USC knew about any of this, or even should have known, then not only could games be forfeited but the number of scholarships reduced.

That's a frightening proposition for a team, and its fans, who have quickly grown accustomed to leading the college parade.

Parents can't even keep track of one teenager 24 hours a day, so it's unrealistic to think the coaches know everything 80 players -- and their fathers and mothers -- are doing all the time.

Figuring what the NCAA will do is never a simple proposition, particularly while the smoke is so thick. And it all has to have USC one very anxious football program.

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