CUSHING, DEFENSE MAKE STATEMENT.

Byline: KEVIN MODESTI

PASADENA - The USC defense had the Michigan offense's number in the 93rd Rose Bowl, led by a pass rusher wearing a quarterback's number.

Meet Brian Cushing, whom you might easily mistake for quarterback John David Booty if you overlooked the fact that Cushing is bigger and longer-haired and plays with the name of a dead beagle scrawled on his left forearm.

``It happens all the time,'' Cushing said of fans' confusion over his and Booty's sharing No. 10. ``It's frustrating to be mistaken for a quarterback. It's my job to get after quarterbacks.''

Monday afternoon at the Rose Bowl, Cushing did that job and more. His cheeks streaked with eye-black, he was the face of a blitzing Trojans defense that vindicated itself and showed up Michigan, frustrating an offense that not long ago was matching touchdowns with the nation's top-ranked team.

After the Trojans' 32-18 upset victory on another cloudless New Year's Day in the Arroyo Seco, where they kept Michigan out of the end zone for three quarters, the offensive-defensive identity crisis might reverse itself: Oh, sorry, Mr. Booty. I wanted Mr. Cushing's autograph.

This was a young Trojans D, only one senior in the Rose Bowl starting 11. And it took some knocks this season, the secondary looking vulnerable early, and the team's old big-play quality notably missing at mid-year.

There was supposed to be asmothering defense in this Rose Bowl. But it was supposed to be Michigan's, college football's hardest front seven to run against.

So Cushing and his teammates took the field with something to prove. They went into the game determined to slow down Michigan quarterback Chad Henne and tailback Mike Hart, both coming off big games in the Wolverines' 42-39 loss to national-championship favorite Ohio State.

Three plays in, they knew they could.

After Hart carried for 11yards on the first play from scrimmage -- that would be his longest all day -- Michigan tried a run and a pass. Cushing and nose tackle Sedrick Ellis combined to stuff Hart for no gain, and then Cushing sacked Henne for a 4-yard loss.

``An opening statement means a lot,'' said Cushing.

Linebacker Oscar Lua said: ``You feed off that.''

The Trojans ended up with six sacks of Henne, who knows how John Navarre felt in these schools' 2004 Rose Bowl. Three of those came on one Michigan possession in the second quarter, when Cushing and defensive tackle Fili Moala ganged up, cornerback Terrell Thomas ran down the quarterback and Ellis got in the act.

None of which might have been possible had the Trojans not meanwhile been holding Hart to a season-low 47 yards. As a team, the Wolverines rushed for a dirty dozen yards.

The defense kept it close, 3-3 at halftime, before Booty fired two touchdown passes to Dwayne Jarrett and one each to Chris McFoy and Steve Smith. Michigan scored on Henne's fourth-quarter passes to Adrian Arrington and Steve Breaston but got no closer than eight points.

The Trojans' first touchdown came four plays after defensive end Lawrence Jackson intercepted a screen pass by Henne thrown under pressure. Jackson was fighting a blocker when the ball went up.

``I just stood right there, and he threw me the ball,'' Jackson said. ``I didn't do anything special. I was just the recipient of a Christmas gift.''

This was the kind of Rose Bowl performance that convinces a Park Ridge, N.J., kid to come to USC. Cushing says the '04 Rose Bowl, a Trojans win over Michigan, helped to sell him on Pete Carroll's program. Cushing played safety and running back at Bergen Catholic High. He wore No. 10 then, and he isn't giving it up just because the quarterback has it too.

Monday, Cushing had extra incentive: Michigan had recruited him but was slow offering a scholarship.

``I wanted to send a message,'' he said after making seven tackles, four of them for losses, and winning the Rose Bowl's defensive player-of-the-game award. ``They should have taken me when they had the chance.''

The Trojans call Cushing a ``stand-up defense end.'' He thinks of himself as a linebacker. Whatever he is, the sophomore appears to be one of a kind. The name ``Mugsy,'' written on his forearm in black felt pen, honors a pet dog who died before the Oregon State game in October.

After the Rose Bowl, you also could have recognized him by his limp, the result of a practice knee injury he says is minor.

Even on one good leg, it was another case of a Pac-10 champion proving faster afoot than its Big Ten counterpart. The eighth-ranked Trojans holding third-ranked Michigan to 20 points fewer than it scored against Ohio State surprised them not at all. A month off had prepared the Trojans to take advantage of Michigan's zone blocking.

``Quite honestly, we kind of expected it,'' said Nick Holt, completing his first season as defensive coordinator under defensive wiz Carroll. ``We looked at film, and we said, `We're better than these guys (Michigan opponents), we're better than those guys'. We took a lot of heat (during the season) because we didn't get a lot of turnovers and sacks. But that was really a misnomer -- we weren't playing flashy, but we were playing good defense.''

Monday, they were flashy and good.

``We knew the ability we had,'' Cushing said. ``(After the loss to Oregon State), Terrell Thomas stood up in a team meeting and said, `We're not playing to our potential.' That was a turning point in the season.''

The season ended with the Trojans (11-2) on a high, their loss to UCLA now a source less of self-doubt than frustration about what might have been. At the core of next fall's title hope will be the defense that should keep every Rose Bowl starter except linebacker Dallas Sartz.

That No. 10 will go into the season as a star. Oh, and the quarterback should get some attention too.

heymodesti(AT_SIGN)aol.com

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Photo:

USC's Brian Cushing hits Michigan quarterback Chad Henne, causing a fumble, in the second quarter.

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer