BRUINS' WILLIAMS WANTS TO SAY ALOHA TO A BAD BOWL MEMORY.

Byline: Jon Wilner Daily News Staff Writer

Shaun Williams signed with UCLA one month after the Bruins appeared in the 1994 Rose Bowl against Wisconsin. Assuming bowl games came with the uniform, Williams pictured himself in at least one Rose Bowl, maybe two. The Fiesta Bowl sounded nice. Three games, two wins - this was UCLA, after all.

Williams never imagined he'd enter the final game of his career with one meager bowl appearance, the Aloha in 1995, and no postseason victory on his resume. No Rose. No Fiesta. Just a bad trip to Hawaii.

``The Aloha Bowl was a disaster,'' he said of the 51-30 loss to Kansas in Terry Donahue's final game as head coach. ``Nothing went right. It was a nightmare. All the guys have tried to block it out. The Cotton Bowl is a chance to ease the pain.''

By most accounts UCLA's season has been hugely successful - a nine-game winning streak, a share of the Pac-10 title, the No. 5 national ranking - and will remain so regardless of the outcome on New Year's Day. But ask the players, and they'll disagree. For them, one goal remains: a victory over Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 1 in Dallas. (Kickoff is 10:30 a.m., on CBS.)

``Our goal since the end of '96 has been to get to a New Year's Day game, and we need to win,'' Williams said. ``It's very important to me personally. It's something I can tell my kids about. I can tell people, `Hey, we played in the Cotton Bowl and won.' That way, I won't have to talk about the Aloha Bowl.''

If earning UCLA's first postseason victory since the 1991 Hancock Bowl isn't motivation enough, there are several subplots to stoke the Bruins' psyche.

Tailback Skip Hicks is playing the final game of his career 90 miles from his hometown, Wichita Falls, Texas, in front of dozens of friends and relatives.

The UCLA offensive line faces its 1996 coach, Steve Marshall, now Texas A&M's offensive coordinator.

Williams and the defense are playing their final game for popular coordinator Rocky Long, the new head coach at New Mexico. How much does the game mean to Long? He insisted on coaching UCLA in the Cotton Bowl and will join the Lobos on Jan. 2.

And for Bruins coach Bob Toledo, the Cotton Bowl is revenge in its purest form: a chance to vanquish his former employer, Aggies coach R.C. Slocum, who fired Toledo after a loss in the Cotton Bowl four years ago.

``This game is big for a lot of reasons,'' Williams said. ``It's important for the school. It's important for the coaches, especially coach Toledo. It's a chance for us to get some recognition after we didn't get to play in the Bowl Alliance.''

UCLA's greatest concern is the five-week layoff since its Nov. 22 victory over USC. (Texas A&M, by contrast, has played two games since then.)

Will quarterback Cade McNown recapture the rhythm that made him the nation's No. 1 passer - and made the Bruins' offense one of the most potent around? Will the defense regain the opportunism that helped UCLA finish second in the nation in turnover margin? In other words, has the prolonged layoff sapped the Bruins of the intangible ingredients that fueled their winning streak?

Toledo, in his first bowl game as a head coach, has implemented a preparation schedule he hopes will ensure success. Instead of overwhelming the Bruins with film work and strategy weeks before kickoff, which could promote burnout, his staff is introducing the game plan a few morsels at a time.

Last week, for instance, Toledo rewarded the seniors by giving them Tuesday and Thursday off. The coaches used those days to evaluate freshmen and reserves, much like they do during spring practice. Toledo spent the remaining days prepping for Texas A&M.

``If you do too much too early, the kids get rusty,'' Toledo said. ``We're trying to get some fundamental work and conditioning, and we'll put in a little bit of the plan as we go.

``We're not starting from scratch, but with a long layoff you lose a little timing. You see dropped balls and other things that happened early in the year.''

Considering the stakes, Toledo probably won't have much difficulty motivating his players. A repeat of the Aloha Bowl embarrassment - which included the Bruins arriving late to the stadium, missing their regular warmups and falling behind 17-0 at halftime - seems unlikely.

``I never imagined being in this situation,'' Williams said. ``But we have one game left and I don't want to go out with a loss, because you always remember your last game.''

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

PHOTO (1) Assistant Rocky Long insisted on coaching the Bruins in the Cotton Bowl before moving on to New Mexico.

Associated Press

(2) SHAUN WILLIAMS

He says a UCLA victory in the Cotton Bowl would help erase the pain of an Aloha Bowl loss in 1995.