MAKING A CLEAN SLATE LINEBACKER READY TO PUT CHECKERED PAST BEHIND HIM.

Byline: SCOTT WOLF  Staff Writer

USC linebacker Rey Maualuga said he is only focused on football and winning a starting spot for the season opener against Arkansas.

Those are easy things to worry about compared to the drama of last year, when Maualuga dealt with just about everything but football as a freshman. He was arrested the week of the Stanford game for punching another student at a party. His father was incapacitated most of the season and died two days before the Rose Bowl.

And in between, he played football.

``I'm a lot more mature now,'' Maualuga said. ``I've learned my lessons. I'm just here to play football.''

Maualuga is competing against senior captain Oscar Lua at middle linebacker, and based on practice snaps, USC coaches would like him to start. But whether or not he wins the job, Maualuga said he is no longer battling his personal demons.

``I don't go to parties anymore,'' he said.

His roommate, USC linebacker Kaluka Maiava, said he also noticed a difference in Maualuga's behavior this year.

``He's mellow compared to last year,'' Maiava said. ``He would get out of hand sometimes last year, but not what everybody thinks. He realizes he can get in trouble.''

Maualuga pleaded no contest to misdemeanor assault and received 100 hours of community service, 24 hours of anger management and agreed to attend 26 Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.

He was believed to be drunk when he punched the student. Even after that incident, sources said there was another incident when police noticed he was disorderly outside a campus bar. Police warned him several times to go home and did not arrest him.

``I've done my time and I'm happy it's over,'' Maualuga said. ``I'm trying to build up from that incident.''

Asked if he's gone to AA meetings, Maualuga said, ``a little bit.'' His lawyer, Carmen Trutanich, said he has not tracked Maualuga's progress in AA or anger-management sessions.

Although Maualuga said he's changed, friends still joke about last year's fight.

``They say, `Watch out for Rey,''' Maualuga said.

But no other USC students mention his misbehavior.

``People I don't know don't bring it up around me,'' he said.

But around campus, Maualuga gets treated more like a rock star than a football player who punched a student.

``We walk on The Row and everybody comes up to him,'' Maiava said. ``He's famous.''

Maualuga said people misunderstand him from the incident, that he really is laid-back, and he doesn't want the notoriety. At the football team's kickoff barbecue, fans surrounded him with praise and advice.

``They came up to me, (said) I've got to step it up a notch,'' he said. ``I take it as a compliment. But I'm going to act the same. I'm not going to change to try to impress people.''

At the time Maualuga went through his legal problems, he also dealt with a dying father. Talatonu Maualuga died of stomach cancer right before the Rose Bowl, and Maualuga went home to Eureka for the funeral right after the game.

Tears welled up in his eyes in the locker room when he thought about his father, moments after the Trojans lost to Texas in the national championship game.

``It doesn't hit me as much now, but I use it as inspiration,'' Maualuga said.

When he goes on the practice field, Maualuga always taps his left hand upward, as a sign of tribute to his father.

``It means I'm ready,'' he said.

But after practice, there still are moments when he would normally speak with his father and cannot.

``Sometime at night, I think about him,'' he said. ``When I talk to my mom, I can't say, `Let me talk to dad.' ''

With friends, he rarely speaks about his father.

``We don't talk about it,'' Maiava said.

Instead, Maiava said he sees a side of Maualuga that many never do, a lighter, more humorous personality.

``He's quieter than me sometimes, but he's always doing pranks with anybody that walks in front of him,'' Maiava said. ``I really think he's mellowed out.''

Maybe his peace of mind stems from the success of football. His talent and physique (6-foot-3, 260 pounds) make him one of the Trojans' most intriguing players this season. It's apparent the coaches want him to play because he took a lot more snaps than Lua in training camp, so much so that Lua has said he might quit the team if he did not play this season.

Even Maualuga admitted he was surprised at how much more time he received in practice compared to Lua.

``It is awkward to be out there while Oscar was the starter,'' he said.

But USC coach Pete Carroll said the disparity was merely to bring Maualuga up to speed on the defense and get him needed experience that Lua already possessed.

``We're comfortable with him running the show,'' Carroll said. ``He's giving us confidence that he's ready. He's more aggressive. He's obviously more comfortable now and done a great job learning.

``But they're neck-and-neck. We haven't decided anything yet.''

Maualuga said Lua has been a mentor to him, even though he's competing against him.

``Off the field, we're just friends. Oscar asks if I want to go get a bite,'' Maualuga said. ``We don't say, `You should play or I should play.' ''

Lua agreed the predicament is not affecting their relationship.

``We're competing, but it's nothing personal,'' Lua said.

[e-mail]

[phone]

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, 4 boxes

Photo:

(1) USC middle linebacker Rey Maualuga, who is competing for a starting spot, wants to move on from a tumultuous freshman season.

Keith Birmingham/Staff Photographer

(2) no caption (RAY MAUALUGA)

Jeff Golden/Getty Images

Box:

(1) TWO-DEEP ROSTER

(2) KEYS TO SUCCESS

(3) REY MAUALUGA FILE

(4) SCHEDULE