DENMON OUTLASTS DOUBTERS, INJURIES.

Byline: Steve Dilbeck Staff Writer

At first when they looked at him, their eyes usually having to drift downward, they shook their heads and figured, ``Too small.''

Then when Eric Denmon surprised them, earning the starting center spot for USC despite his 6-foot-1 frame, came all the injuries - a never-ending series of injuries.

There have been three arthroscopic knee surgeries, three bad ankle sprains. Every time he'd get back up, some body part would buckle and take him back down. It was the wrong kind of pattern, an inescapable whirlwind of a college football career.

So naturally, after the fifth-year senior battled back to start the first five games of this season, a pileup in the game against Arizona decided his right ankle looked like a great landing spot.

``It's still a little sore, but I'm going to keep pushing,'' Denmon said. ``It's been the theme of my career. My main focus every year is to not get injured.''

As a freshman from Dallas, Denmon was the 240-pound backup center, playing in four games. After the season, he had arthroscopic surgery to remove cartilage from his right knee. The next season, he tore cartilage in the left knee, again needed surgery and took a redshirt year.

By the time he was a redshirt sophomore, he was starting. It seemed a promising career ready to blossom. But there was a severe left-ankle sprain. He missed three games and served as the backup to Matt McShane in seven others.

Last season, Denmon grew to 280 pounds and started nine games, but there was also a sprained right knee that required postseason surgery. A major upset would have been a single season without a limb giving way.

``You go and work out all summer, bust your behind to get ready for the season, feel like you're in the best shape you've ever been in, then one day in practice or in game, you have an injury that sets you back,'' Denmon said.

``It's very frustrating, but I don't let it get me down. Things aren't going to always go the way I plan. It's going to be that way for the rest of my life. It's a good thing that I'm facing adversity now as a young adult. I'll be used to it when I'm older and face more. I know how to react to it. I know not to lose my cool. I just have to look at it and learn from it.''

For Denmon, his five years at USC have been a mixture of success, adversity and tenacity. Yet each time he was set back, he came back. Each time the challenge might have finally overwhelmed another, Denmon regrouped and charged back ahead.

``That's just the type of individual he is,'' said USC line coach Steve Morton. ``He's the kind of guy who's going to keep trying, keep swinging. He's not going to give up.''

The NFL might not hold a future for Denmon, but he will leave USC with a degree is sociology. He wants to become a high school teacher, coach, and then later, principal back in Dallas. He wants to use his time in college to become the kind of role model he knew in school.

``I just want to be able to help younger kids like they helped me,'' Denmon said. ``I always looked up to older people for advice. There's a lot of young people who think their elders don't know what they're talking about. They've been there, they've done that, they've already experienced it - so why not listen to them?

``I want to be one of the those guys that 20 years from now a 16-year-old guy who doesn't know what to do about the school that's recruiting him, or needs some advice with his girlfriend, or has some kind of family problem at home, I want to be that guy who can help him. I want to influence his life like I've had influence in mine.''

Morton said for Denmon, it will be a natural.

``He'll be a great mentor for young men,'' Morton said. ``He'll be a source of inspiration, a source of real motivation for young men. He'll have a lot of stories to tell and a lot of things that relate directly to them. He'll know when to hug 'em and when to push 'em.

``It's a wonderful thing, because our kids need people like Eric Denmon in their lives. He'll be a real asset.''

Denmon would like to again be an asset to the Trojans on Saturday, when they meet UCLA at the Rose Bowl. Denmon came to USC from Texas the youngest of five childeren, wanting to be on his own. He was not overly familiar with meaning of the annual USC-UCLA showdown.

``My freshman year, I really didn't understand the rivalry too much,'' he said. ``But as I got older I realized, we're the only city that has two major colleges in the same city. We're the only thing going. What rivalry could be greater than this one?''

Denmon became so appreciative that he calls USC's 17-7 victory last season over UCLA - ending the Bruins' win streak against the Trojans at eight games - the highlight of his career.

``My greatest memory is being able to break the streak, to be a part of that,'' he said. ``Taking a lot of reps during the game and walking off that field all sweaty and tired, knowing you were part of that.

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