COLORADO INSIDE LOOK: BROWN RUNS ROUGHSHOD OVER BRUINS.

Byline: Rich Hammond Staff Writer

PASADENA - Everywhere Colorado tailback Chris Brown turned last week, he found nothing but white-and-red jerseys, worn by USC defenders ready to bury him in the backfield.

Brown enjoyed the scenery much more Saturday afternoon at the Rose Bowl, as he ran over long stretches of wide-open green grass and trounced UCLA for 188 yards and three touchdowns on 26 carries in the Buffaloes' 31-17 victory.

Brown's burst came just seven days after the Trojans held him to 44 yards, and he rebounded by putting up the biggest opposing rushing total against the Bruins since Wisconsin's Ron Dayne ran for 246 yards in the 1999 Rose Bowl.

``We were really embarrassed (last week), but we had to let that go because we knew we had another game to prepare for,'' said Brown, who was just 10 yards off his single-game career high, set last season against Nebraska. ``We knew what we could do, because we've done it before.

``The confidence level is the main thing, and we just had to get back to doing what everybody felt comfortable with. We came out and played Colorado football, smash-mouth football. I think we felt it from the start, but we just got more confident as we were able to move the ball.''

Featured back Marcus Houston suffered a partially torn knee ligament in Colorado's season opener and quarterback Craig Ochs suffered his third career concussion two weeks ago, leaving Brown and slashing back Bobby Purify to handle the offensive load.

Brown, who transferred to follow coach Gary Barnett from Northwestern to Colorado after the 1999 season, gained 185 yards two weeks ago against San Diego State, and even with the UCLA defense geared to shut down the run Saturday, Brown came up big again.

He had just three carries in a scoreless first quarter but made an impact early in the second. The Bruins took momentum with a trick-play touchdown to start the period, but on the next play from scrimmage, Brown went off tackle and rumbled for 32 yards to midfield.

``That gave us a lot of confidence, because the offensive line blew open a huge hole,'' Brown said. ``Once you do it once, you know you can do it again.''

Three plays later, Brown barreled into the left side of the line but found no room to run. Instead, he reversed field and ran 19 yards for the touchdown.

Brown added a 7-yard scoring run midway through the third period and put the Buffaloes up 31-10 in the fourth quarter with an 8-yard run. Even though Colorado's intention to run the ball was clear, Brown took advantage of huge holes opened up by his offensive line and gained 93 yards in the second half.

``Every time Chris ran the ball, it looked like there were two or three guys trying to tackle him,'' Barnett said. ``He was just determined.