BIG GAIN BY WILLS.

Byline: CHRIS BRANAM Local

He was 18 years old, just a freshman from a dusty farm town in the San Joaquin Valley, playing in front of 100,741 people in college football's biggest game of the year.

Shawn Wills can hardly believe that it has been 10 years since he played in the UCLA-USC game in 1988, when the Bruins were ranked No. 6 and the Trojans were No. 2. Of course, a trip to the Rose Bowl was on the line.

``We're getting old, brother,'' he said by phone from his home in Canyon Country. Then he laughed.

USC won that day 31-22. Troy Aikman, UCLA's quarterback, handed off five times to Wills, who was playing in his ninth college game.

Jim Bonds, Alemany High's head football coach and Aikman's backup in '88, vividly remembers one of Wills' carries.

``You want to talk to him about that negative 1 yard?'' he asked playfully. Bonds holds no bad feelings toward Wills; he asked his old college buddy to work as an assistant coach in charge of the running backs at Alemany last year.

But Bonds and Wills - and some die-hard USC fans - will remember the play when the Bruins were in field-goal range and it was third down. Wills got the ball, and instead of taking it up the middle, he tried going outside. He was tackled for a 1-yard loss.

Care to guess what happened next? UCLA kicker Alfredo Velasco missed the field-goal attempt - by about a yard.

``I was like, `Oh, maaaan,' '' Wills said of his reaction.

Other than that one carry, Wills' future appeared to hold no setbacks. Two months later, he became the first freshman in the history of the Cotton Bowl to gain over 100 yards when he got 120 in UCLA's 17-3 win over Arkansas.

Wills - who was a two-sport star in Hanford, a town of 30,000 between Fresno and Bakersfield - figured he was destined for the NFL.

``There was no doubt that I was going,'' he said. ``I firmly believe God has a plan for us. My plan was to go into the NFL, make a million dollars and sit back. His plan was for me to touch people in other ways. That's what I'm doing now.''

When most of us are still snoozing, Wills is out making sure the roads are safe. He is a California Highway Patrol officer, working a shift that begins at 5:30 a.m.

``I always looked up to officers,'' Wills said. ``I've always looked up to them.''

Wills, 28, graduated from Sacramento's CHP Academy on July 8. Despite his football background, he wasn't prepared for the boot-camp atmosphere.

``Every single morning you're up at 5 o'clock,'' he said. ``We would run for miles and you wouldn't even think about it. Football is more about strength and quickness.''

Training for the CHP was about becoming mentally tough.

``They really drill in you to never give up. Never give up,'' he said.

Wills, who turned down an offer to play pro baseball to go to UCLA, ended up being drafted by the Phillies in 1993, after he was finished with football.

He played in the low minors for a couple of seasons then played a year of semi-pro football in Fresno. Wills continued to chase the dream of playing in the NFL, and he signed with the Philadelphia Eagles in the spring of '95.

He was released on June 12. He graduated from UCLA with a degree in sociology on June 17. On June 24, he got married.

``At the time, I also had a 3-year-old daughter,'' Wills said of his memorable June. ``I said I'd go out into the real world and find a real job.''

He found it with the CHP, but before he was finally accepted to the academy, Wills helped tutor the Indians' Miguel Fletcher, who went to USC, and sophomore De'Andre Scott, Alemany's featured back this season.

``(Wills) knew what he was talking about,'' Scott said. ``He showed me some footwork. Every time he came out, he showed me a great deal.''

It was an interesting 10 years since Wills lost a yard on third down in the Rose Bowl in front of 100,000 people. What would have happened if he would have busted through the line and gone for a touchdown?

No one knows. But Wills wasn't deterred, because he had something to fall back on.

``Every college athlete. . . they always think, `Hey, I'm going to make it (to the pros),' '' Wills said. ``We don't realize that only 3 percent of college athletes are going to make it.

``I always preach that you have to finish school. I couldn't preach that and not practice that.''