A FIRST ONE AT LAST FOR RESTLESS UCLA.

Byline: Billy Witz Staff Writer

It's fitting that when UCLA kicks off its season tonight at the Rose Bowl against 19th-ranked Colorado State, it will become the last of the 113 Division I football teams in the nation to do so.

Nobody's had a longer offseason than the Bruins.

They not only spent the winter, spring and summer stewing on last season's collapse, when they fell from No. 4 in the nation to out of the bowl picture in a scant 22 days.

They also watched two of their more popular seniors - Ryan McCann and Audie Attar - leave the program, the former for playing time and the latter for fighting. They've seen quarterback Cory Paus serve two jail sentences for drunken driving and had four others end up in the criminal-justice system on assault charges.

That two of the assault cases - against team leader Ricky Manning and reserve lineman Shane Lehmann - came to light in the past two weeks has left UCLA coach Bob Toledo defending his team's criminal record more than his own record, which reads 17 victories in the past 36 games.

Not since Toledo's first season, in 1996, have expectations been as low as they are for this team. The Bruins, unranked in the preseason for only the second time in five years, were picked to finish sixth in the Pacific-10 Conference.

The Bruins will be looking to clear their names when they take the field in front of an expected crowd of 55,000.

``I'd probably be lying if I said it didn't mean something,'' Toledo said of the long-awaited opener. ``It's another chance to prove people wrong, prove that I'm a good football coach and that we have a good program.''

Likewise, the players - few of whom protested the school's decision not to pursue a Humanitarian or Silicon Valley bowl berth last year - are eager to play again.

``I'm glad this can come down to football so we can answer football questions, rather than facing all these off-the-field questions we've had,'' senior linebacker Marcus Reese said. ``Now it's time to play football.''

Despite Colorado State's ranking, its status as the Mountain West preseason favorite and victories over Virginia and then-No. 6 Colorado, the Bruins feel tonight's game is more about them than the Rams.

Toledo's main concern isn't so much CSU's touted running back Cecil Sapp, clever quarterback Bradlee Van Pelt or a defense that has forced eight turnovers. It's how his own team, with as many as 19 players participating in their first college game, will play.

``You never know how they're going to react,'' said Toledo, whose team has won four consecutive openers. ``(Today) will be an indication of where we're at. They have a real advantage (having played two games). We haven't stepped on the field, and we have a young team.

``I want them to go out and have fun and don't worry about making mistakes. I don't want them to be tentative.''

The Bruins have several concerns heading into the season:

--Can Paus recover from his off-the-field troubles and his late-season crash, when he threw eight interceptions and no touchdowns during the Bruins' season-killing, four-game losing streak?

--Will the pass protection, which has yielded 101 sacks over the past three seasons - worst in the Pac-10 - be any better?

--Will tight end Mike Seidman, the Westlake High alum who has 20 catches in his career, finally get the ball as much in games as he has in practice?

--Can the paper-thin, experience-shy linebacker corps, which lost Pac-10 defensive player of the year Robert Thomas, hold up?

Most important, though, aren't the questions on the field, but off it. Can the Bruins, who have watched promising seasons disintegrate three of the past four years, keep from imploding again?

``That's why we have leaders,'' offensive tackle Mike Saffer said. ``We wouldn't need leaders if everything was fine and dandy.''

To a man, the Bruins all said they've learned from last season and that Manning's arrest and Lehmann's conviction - or any other future episodes - won't be a distraction.

``I'm not saying it's not a big deal,'' Paus said. ``But unfortunately, we've had a lot of experience dealing with these kinds of things. We've learned from our mistakes.''

UCLA vs. COLORADO STATE

Tonight, 7:15, at the Rose Bowl

TV/Radio: Fox Sports Net; 1150-AM

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UCLA vs. COLORADO STATE (see text)