O.J. EXPLOITS SC FOR IMAGE'S SAKE.

Byline: KEVIN MODESTI

Your first thought is it's a joke. Just another O.J. Simpson joke. The first O.J. Simpson joke that could be told on the front page of the sports section of a family newspaper.

There's the line from USC football coach Pete Carroll about how the university holds Heisman Trophy winners ``in the highest regard.''

He's being sarcastic, right?

There's the line from O.J. about how he hadn't attended a USC practice in 15 years because he ``got disillusioned'' with the program.

He's being ironic, right?

And there's the photograph of O.J., a pair of eyeglasses in hand, talking with an ever-so-attentive Carson Palmer.

The photo is a fabrication, isn't it, a computer paste job by some Westwood comedian out to embarrass Palmer and the Trojans?

But you realize those words and photos in the Sunday papers are all too real, all too serious, all too unfunny.

O.J. paid a visit Saturday to the field in Miami where the Trojans are practicing for Thursday's Orange Bowl game against Iowa, and the sick part is that he was welcomed with open arms and wide eyes by players and coaches from the university where he rose to fame in more innocent times.

If he was looking for the real killers, I'm guessing he wasn't going to find them in the Trojans' locker room. If he was looking for a public-relations coup, though, he went to the right place.

I wasn't there in Miami, so I can't describe the scene in detail, but somebody who saw it said it was ``surreal.''

From all accounts, the Trojans made Simpson feel right at home, and the little matter of the double-murder charge wouldn't have come up if reporters hadn't brought it up.

Tailback Justin Fargas invited the Miami area's most notorious resident to the practice session, the Fargas who has known Simpson since his days at Notre Dame High in Sherman Oaks and wanted to wear the man's No. 32. Carroll heard about Simpson's planned visit Friday night and seemed to love the idea. Players hit up Simpson for autographs and photos.

In the surest sign that celebrity, however ill-gotten, now trumps all other personal qualities in this culture, a member of the Broward County sheriff's department was among those seeking photos with Simpson.

``It's good,'' Carroll said. ``He had a chance to see his school. Guys were excited. He's a legend.''

And Simpson is a smart-enough legend to know a bunch of naive kids and a nice-guy head coach when he takes advantage of them.

The way the story was written, Simpson's appearance was an endorsement for Carroll's coaching, which has taken the Trojans from nowhere to No. 5 in two seasons.

Never mind whether this is an endorsement Carroll should welcome.

The real story is that it's the other way around: Simpson received the Trojans' endorsement Saturday.

That photo of Simpson, the 1968 Heisman Trophy winner, with Palmer, the 2002 Heisman winner, becomes Exhibit A in O.J.'s case for public acceptance.

I hear people pointing out that Simpson was acquitted of the charge he slashed to death ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman in Brentwood in 1994. But he also was held liable for their deaths in the subsequent civil trial - in effect, found guilty.

He got disillusioned?

If a .500 record isn't good enough for the Trojans in football games, it shouldn't be good enough in murder trials.

The players and coaches miss the point if they think they were honoring Simpson's football greatness and the rest was irrelevant. Simpson represents not only a golden age in USC football but also the shameless flouting of the community's judgment. When the Trojans celebrated the moves, they celebrated the man.

The university continues to display his Heisman and his old jersey in Heritage Hall. Which is all right. History is history.

But O.J. Simpson on the USC practice field in 2002, getting hugs and handshakes like an untainted hero? To borrow a phrase: It doesn't fit.

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O.J. SIMPSON

Former Trojan scored PR coup when he was welcomed by USC at practice.