O.J.'S HERITAGE: USC'S RAP SHEET GROWING ALONG WITH SIMPSON'S.

Byline: PAUL OBERJUERGE

USC's Trojans still don't get it.

O.J. Simpson stands accused of 10 felonies in Las Vegas, including kidnapping, burglary and assault with a deadly weapon.

All this 12 years after he beat a double-murder rap in an infamous trial. And 10 years after a civil court found him liable for those two murders and ordered him to pay $33.5 million in damages. And one year after he tried to have published a book brazenly entitled: "If I Did It."

None of that matters, at USC.

O.J. is still a great Trojan.

You can find proof of that in Heritage Hall, USC's glittering shrine to its athletes. Particularly its football greats.

Including O.J. Simpson.

Walk in the main entrance, you can't miss seven replicas of the Heisman Trophy arranged in an arc.

O.J.'s is second from the left.

Jerseys worn by USC's first five Heisman winners are mounted inside glass cases near the western entrance.

O.J.'s No. 32 is in the northwest corner.

The same corner in which a local radio station set up a remote studio Tuesday.

The radio guys had just completed an interview with USC coach Pete Carroll when it was noted in a news update that "O.J. Simpson remains incarcerated without bail in Las Vegas ..."

Nobody in Heritage Hall seemed to notice.

Carroll did not seem comfortable when asked if Simpson should be treated on par in Heritage Hall with USC's other Heisman winners.

Perhaps because Carroll was heavily criticized for allowing Simpson to attend a USC practice before the 2003 Orange Bowl and knows when he might be about to touch the "third rail" of USC athletics.

"I think it's a statement of a time, back in the '60s, when accomplishments were made," Carroll said. "I don't know. I think it's something that is part of the past of this university.

"I don't think what's going on now has a lot to do with it."

Later, he suggested a writer ask some of the other Heisman winners how they felt about having O.J. in their midst.

So we did. One of them is Mike Garrett, USC's athletic director since 1993.

Garrett, who oversees the Heritage Hall collection, was asked if he could envision a time when one of its Heisman winner's trophy and jersey were removed from the room.

"Why?" he said.

"Because that person was found guilty of a felony, perhaps?"

"We honor people who came through here, in the time they played," Garrett said. "So what you're telling me is that ... if someone did something here and later in life, many years later, something happens ... that means you take it down?

"I mean, I don't know if anyone passes muster on that one because someone can always find something to find reasons to take somebody down."

Well, sure. Charles White had severe trouble with substance abuse.

Reggie Bush is being investigated by the NCAA. Matt Leinart fathered a child out of wedlock.

But shouldn't proportionality enter into this?

None of the other six were accused of two murders. None of the other six were found liable for two deaths in civil court. None of the other six stand accused of 10 felonies in Las Vegas.

O.J. Simpson pretty clearly is poison. To himself, to others and to the athletic department that, apparently, still loves him.

Simpson was mobbed by USC players before the 2003 Orange Bowl.

Several got his autograph and posed for pictures with him. "He's a legend," Carroll was quoted as saying that day. "At 'SC, a Heisman Trophy winner is held in high regard."

And apparently still is, no matter how long his rap sheet grows.

Terrell Thomas, a senior cornerback and All-America candidate, said the displays in Heritage Hall are inspirational to current players.

"At this school it's all about tradition," he said. "We still have the same weight room that O.J. and Marcus Allen and Ronnie Lott lifted in."

But what of Simpson's current legal problems, when added to past issues?

"He's a human," Thomas said. "Just because he was an athlete and a great USC (player) and NFL pro, you know, he's a human. He makes mistakes like everybody else.

"But I don't think it's gonna tarnish his Heisman or his legacy at USC."

No, USC's Trojans don't get it. Not when "it" involves a Trojans great.

We aren't suggesting Simpson be erased from USC history in some sort of Stalinistic historical revision.

He deserves mention in USC's football media guide. He won the Heisman. He was All-America. He was the first pick in the NFL draft.

He is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. None of that can be ignored.

But should he be treated with the same honor and visibility in Heritage Hall as six men who also won Heismans, but who have yet to be brought up on felony charges? Particularly if he is found guilty of one or more of those charges?

One of those Heisman winners says O.J.'s trophy and jersey aren't going anywhere. That man is Garrett.

"I think some people have lived their lives early on, we honor what they did early on," he said. "What they do later has nothing to do with us and has everything to do with him."

Interesting concept. But not entirely accurate. If one of USC's heroes blew up the World Trade Center or assassinated a president, we doubt his jersey would be in Heritage Hall.

However, you're OK if you beat the criminal side of that double-murder charge and only the civil court nailed you ... and if you've only been accused of 10 felonies. You're good, so far, for glorification in Heritage Hall, the school's sports Holy of Holies.

USC's Trojans? Still don't get it. You wonder if they ever will.

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CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1) Former USC player and Heisman Trophy winner O.J. Simpson is taken to a Las Vegas jail Sunday in connection with 10 felony charges.

Jae C. Hong/Associated Press

(2) O.J. Simpson runs for a 64-yard touchdown in 1967 that gave No. 2 USC a 21-20 victory over then-unbeaten UCLA. The Trojans went on to win the national title.

Daily News file photo