LEGACIES ON THE LINE: TROJANS THINK NEVER LOSING WOULD BE FINE FINAL MEMORY.

Byline: Scott Wolf  Staff Writer

Player memories are notoriously short, so this week, USC assistant coach Ed Orgeron delivered a history lesson.

He's a bit of a relic around USC, the only player or coach who knows what it was like to lose to UCLA during the Bruins' eight-game winning streak from 1991-98. So he offered a refresher course on life on the losing side of the crosstown rivalry.

``When I got here, they had beaten us seven years in a row and you couldn't go around town to even a 7-Eleven wearing 'SC stuff,'' Orgeron said. ``I remember when we lost the eighth in a row, how humiliated I was walking off the field.''

The message apparently sunk in.

``He said it sucked,'' USC defensive tackle Mike Patterson said.

No current USC player identifies with Orgeron's situation because the Trojans are enjoying a four-game winning streak in the series. If USC wins Saturday, the redshirt seniors will be the first class to beat UCLA five years in a row.

``That's something you definitely can tell your friends, `I never lost to UCLA,' '' USC center Norm Katnik said. ``It means a lot.''

The fifth-year seniors don't know what it's like to lose to their crosstown rival, but they know never losing would be significant.

``That would be huge,'' defensive end Omar Nazel said. ``You can't rate accomplishments, but it would definitely be in my top 10. I think it would be pretty big because when I came here it was an eight-game losing streak.''

The seniors essentially are clueless about the significance of beating an archrival after an eight-year drought. But they were around when USC broke the streak in 1999, a game none has forgotten.

``When we won that game, students and fans ran on the field, it was the happiest day in my entire life,'' Katnik said. ``When we came in here, those fifth-year guys never had beaten the Bruins. Hearing from them how hard it was to experience that, we knew it was important.''

Even with that wild scene on the Coliseum field, it's difficult for current players to understand exactly what losing year after year means to a player.

``It's hard because we haven't endured those hardships,'' Nazel said.

Orgeron remembers, though. Even though he's 4-1 against the Bruins, he realizes the hardship a program goes through by losing.

``It lasts all year, in recruiting, with your neighbors,'' he said. ``Everything goes by a lot better, a lot smoother when you win.''

As a former assistant at Miami, Orgeron knew if he lost to Florida, there probably wouldn't be too many encounters with Gators fans in South Beach. But he can't say the same thing about Southern California.

``It's a powerful rivalry, a lot different than Florida vs. Miami,'' Orgeron said. ``You see people every day that remind you of the rivalry here. It's not like that in Miami. We made a vow to do everything in our power to change it after we lost my first year. In 1999, you could feel the change.''

If the rivalry's been only roses for the Trojans the past four years, it doesn't take much to remember a far different time, when the Bruins dominated.

``It's like a thorn in my side. I can't change it regardless of how many times USC wins,'' said Lawrence Larry, a defensive end who played from 1995-98 and never beat UCLA. He now owns a construction company in Littlerock. ``I'll go to my grave with it.''

Larry said he didn't fully realize the magnitude of never beating UCLA until his senior year, when the Trojans lost 34-17 at the Rose Bowl.

``Right after the game, I realized we never beat them,'' Larry said. ``It almost felt like a curse. Three of those four games, we were beating them and lost.''

As he watches the Trojans extend their own streak, Larry said, ``I feel for the UCLA guys in my situation.''

Another player who only experienced the negative was former Alemany High of Mission Hills tailback Terry Barnum, who played from 1992-95. Barnum, who is about to earn a Ph.D. from USC, said he constantly thinks about living through the eight-year drought.

``It bothers me all the time. You come to USC to beat UCLA and Notre Dame,'' Barnum said. ``Had I not been on a Rose Bowl-winning team, it would be hard to point to successes in my career.

``It's part of your legacy. And what you leave behind. I would give anything to play one of those games over again, but you can't.''

Barnum said he understands how frustrated UCLA players must feel about constantly losing to USC because there's never an easy answer to explain why you can't beat your rival.

``The shoe's on the other foot now but you wonder things, like, `How do you get the momentum back?' '' he said. ``It's hard to get it back.''

Even after he graduated, Barnum said USC's 48-41 loss in double overtime in 1996 hurt as much as when he played in the series.

``I was just as devastated,'' he said. ``All those guys, except for the true freshmen, I played with and I played for those coaches. It hurt. But the game that sticks out is my senior year. That was my last game at the Coliseum (in 1995) and we lost. It's still here.''

One measure of satisfaction for Barnum came in 1999, when he spoke to the team the week of the game. Afterward, then-coach Paul Hackett presented Barnum with a game ball. Barnum said he'd feel uncomfortable reprising his role, since he never beat UCLA.

``They've found the magic or things to do against UCLA,'' Barnum said. ``I don't want to be the person to talk to them.''

Perhaps because of the pain that stays with players throughout the series, Katnik doesn't want to come close to experiencing the other side of the rivalry.

``It would hurt,'' he said.

Katnik also wants to make history this weekend. If USC wins, it will sweep Notre Dame and UCLA in back-to-back seasons for just the second time in school history. The first time it happened was in 1978-79.

``Now that would be something,'' Katnik said. ``I'd love to accomplish that.''

Scott Wolf, [phone]

scott.wolf(at)dailynews.com

USC at UCLA

Saturday, 12:30 p.m., Ch. 7

CAPTION(S):

5 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) 1999

USC 17, UCLA 7

at Coliseum

Chad Morton, pictured, predicted over the summer USC would break its eight-game losing streak to UCLA.

(2 -- color) 2000

USC 38, UCLA 35

at Rose Bowl

David Bell kicked a field goal with nine seconds remaining for USC.

(3 -- color) 2001

USC 27, UCLA 0

at Coliseum

USC shut out UCLA for the first time since 1947.

(4 -- color) 2002

USC 52, UCLA 21

at Rose Bowl

USC led 21-0 and 52-7 in the easy victory. The Trojans' 52 points was the most against UCLA since they scored 52 against the Bruins in 1930.

(5) Former USC coach Paul Hackett holds the city trophy in 1999 after the Trojans ended a losing streak to UCLA.

David Crane/Staff Photographer