RESTART RED CROSS PAUS OUTLASTS ANOTHER INJURY.

Byline: Billy Witz Staff Writer

Cory Paus will get back on his bike Saturday night and start riding again. One of these days, he's bound to make it around the block. Isn't he?

Paus is 6-foot-2, a solid 206 pounds and has the mindset of a linebacker. Unfortunately, he's as frail as a kicker. He has started eight games in his brief career and finished just four.

Paus returns to the starting lineup again Saturday night against Arizona State at the Rose Bowl, four weeks after his latest injury - a separated right throwing shoulder he suffered on the first play of the first game of the season.

If Paus has the luck of Wile E. Coyote, at least he has the resiliency to match.

If Paus sits on a keg of dynamite or is flattened by a boulder, he dusts himself off and gets back to the chase. One of these days, he's bound to get the Roadrunner. Isn't he?

``It's like my rebirth,'' said Paus, a redshirt sophomore from New Lenox, Ill., of Saturday's start. ``I feel like it's the first game again. I was super excited before the first game and really pumped, amped and ready to go. That's the way I am right now. I just looked at (the injury) as a temporary setback.''

This attitude is a reflection of Paus' unfailing confidence. Part of it comes naturally and part of it comes from earning the starting position from Drew Bennett last year and taking it twice from Ryan McCann this season.

His injuries aren't a matter of one faulty part. Each one has been different.

There were bruised ribs against Fresno State, a separated left shoulder against Oregon State and a season-ending broken collarbone against Washington. Paus had surgery last winter to tighten up the left shoulder socket - he also separated it in the final game of his high school career.

Then, after a eight months of rehab and work, he went down on the first play of the season opener - and on a borderline late hit by Alabama defensive end Jarret Johnson.

It would be easy to feel like Nancy Kerrigan.

``I don't look at it as `Why me?' '' Paus said. ``I was just frustrated. I was upset. I just wondered 'Oh, what did I do?' I was basically upset, but I never really thought `Why me?' ''

Said his mother, Nancy, laughing: ``We're kind of worried that another injury might put him in a body bag. You want to be angry, but it's the nature of the beast. Who can you be angry at? Your son plays a sport where you're always an injury away from playing or not playing.''

The night he was injured, Paus was devastated. The next day, he was plotting his return. The question was: to what?

While Paus spent the first week after the injury watching practice in glasses and his right arm in a sling, UCLA coach Bob Toledo was suggesting that if the Bruins continued to win with McCann, who came in to lead them to a 35-24 upset of No. 3-ranked Alabama, he would keep the job. McCann was benched against Fresno State but came back to help the Bruins beat No. 3 Michigan.

``Yeah, I thought about it a little bit,'' Paus said. ``We won our first three games and a lot of people say if it's not broken, don't fix it. But I was really, really, really concentrating all my effort on just getting back to the point where I could play if I was ready to play.''

Paus spent much of his time with his girlfriend, UCLA cheerleader Joelle Cosentino. He also leaned on his parents, Nancy and Rick Paus, and his roommates, Rusty Williams and Rob Kolaczynski.

``We just tried to keep him in good spirits,'' said Williams, a defensive end. ``We'd tell him we were confident in him, that he's still the starting quarterback. The first two days he was devastated, but he's real positive about everything. It's not like him to sit around and mope. He just looked at it like it was a matter of time.''

His parents, who will be at the Rose Bowl on Saturday, tried to talk about anything but football.

``I'd say, 'Hang in there honey, there is a reason for all of that. You dont always know how it is. Adversity breeds character.' You know, all the things you're supposed to say,'' Nancy Paus said. ``But it got to the point where he didn't want to hear about that.''

Paus began playing light catch last week and was cleared Thursday to resume practicing this week. After each workout, he ices the shoulder. It gets more comfortable each day, he said.

All through his rehab, Paus never asked Toledo or offensive coordinator Al Borges about his status and they never told him. Both Paus and Toledo said it wasn't necessary.

``I think he knew where he stood,'' said Toledo, who told Paus Monday morning that he would likely start this week.

Paus has displayed few signs of rust the past two days in practice. He's throwing the ball decisively and accurately if not always with as much zip.

``People who saw him last year saw someone going through a lot of growing pains,'' Toledo said. ``They didn't see him in spring ball when he was much improved and they didn't see him (in fall camp). Nobody's seen him yet.

``He's that kind of guy (who will respond to the spotlight). He likes pressure. He thrives on pressure. That's why he's a good quarterback.''

Isn't he?

UCLA vs. Arizona State

--When: Saturday, 7:15 p.m.

--Where: Rose Bowl

--TV/radio: Fox Sports West 2; XTRA 1150 AM

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo: (1 -- color) Four injuries in eight starts have not prevented Cory Paus from resuming his job as UCLA's quarterback. He will start Saturday night against Arizona State.

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer

(2) CORY PAUS

The UCLA QB will make his first start since being injured on the season's first play.

Box: UCLA vs. Arizona State (see text)