RIVALRY ALL IN THE FAMILY.

Byline: STEVE DILBECK

Ben Emanuel laughs easily, admitting the obvious. It's hard not to fantasize.

The senior UCLA free safety picks off Matt Leinart at the end of Saturday's game, maybe returns it for a game-winning touchdown to upset the No. 1 Trojans, and then runs off to an NFL career.

``That would be the ultimate high for me and the best thing that could happen,'' Emanuel said. ``It would make everything in my career worthwhile.''

There are pitfalls to looking ahead, of course, but Emanuel has a rich family of athletes to draw upon for input. Cousin Bert Emanuel is an NFL receiver. Cousin Derrick Johnson is a Butkus Award finalist at Texas. Cousin John Williams is a freshman defensive end at No. 2 Oklahoma.

And then there is cousin Aaron Emanuel, perhaps the greatest high school running back in Valley history, who played his college football at USC.

``I give Ben a hard time,'' Aaron said. ``People ask me how I let him slip away. I tell 'em he wanted to go with the enemy. And it cost him.''

This is Ben Emanuel's last game at the Rose Bowl, and he would like nothing better than to snap USC's winning streak against the Bruins at five games.

``It's a unique opportunity,'' Ben said. ``I want to be a part of that team that ends the streak and starts a UCLA streak of its own.''

Aaron offers half support.

``I always wish him the best every week,'' Aaron said. ``I'll root for him personally to have a good game, but I can't go against my Trojans.''

Ben is from Friendswood, Texas, and Aaron now substitute teaches in a South Bay area high school district. Aaron has offered his own experience as guidance to Ben, even if sometimes it was not always completely invited.

Last year, Ben was suspended for the Silicon Valley bowl game after he missed some team functions. Before the fall season began, Aaron said he was asked by UCLA coaches to speak to his cousin.

``I was getting some calls from some of the coaches over at UCLA that Ben wasn't taking care of business in the class room and doing the things he needed to be successful,'' Aaron said. ``I went to his house and pulled him outside and probably got on his butt for two or three hours.

``Ben's a really smart guy. He comes from a great family. But he was getting the athlete syndrome.''

This season Ben, who has started 37 of UCLA's past 40 games, is tied for second on the team with 69 tackles. He is 6-foot-3, 220 pounds, athletic and figures to be selected in the NFL draft next April.

He took advantage of the NFL's program to evaluate juniors last season, but decided to come back for his senior season.

``I wouldn't have got drafted as high as I plan on getting drafted on this year,'' Ben said. ``I can look back and see that I've made strides as a player and definitely improved. That was my goal, to get better every week and not make mistakes over again.''

Aaron can tell Ben all about making mistakes, about NFL dreams and the pressure to succeed.

Aaron gained 4,807 yards rushing and scored 54 touchdowns at Quartz Hill High School during the early '80s. He was named to all the important All-America teams. Then-Nebraska coach Tom Osborne called him ``the best high school running back I've ever seen.''

His career at USC never lived up to the lofty expectations. He struggled with injuries. Was a spot starter. In his four years he gained 1,784 yards.

To most, his career was a great disappointment.

``You hear that,'' he said. ``You hear, 'Ah, man, we thought you were going to win two Heismans when you got in here.' It happens, man, you have to move on.''

Aaron, now 37, also ran afoul of the law while at USC. He was suspended a season from the team after being found guilty of punching a female student at a campus party. While the '87 Trojans went to the Rose Bowl, he was wore an orange vest and picked up trash along the Hollywood Freeway.

Ben said both his father, also Ben, and Aaron used those experiences as a warning.

``That was a long time ago,'' Ben said. ``I was aware of what happened. My father told me about it. I knew not to make the same mistakes he made ... it was just kind of reiterated, having someone in the family that things like that happened to, to just let you know things can happen and can go wrong.''

Aaron spent parts of three seasons with four different teams in the NFL and one in Canada, but when he was plagued by pinched nerve in his neck, his professional career floundered. Soon he was back in the L.A. area.

Now, in addition to teaching, he and former USC fullback Leroy Holt have started the Fifth Quarter Foundation to help inner-city football players prepare for college life, and then for life after football.

``A lot these are young inner-city kids and you throw them into these big banquets with these wealthy alumni and they don't have the first idea even what fork to use at dinner,'' he said. ``We're talking basic life skills so they prepare themselves to graduate and set themselves for later on.''

The former USC tailback said he doesn't hesitate to use himself as an example for how things can turn. He said he was a ``knucklehead'' for the party incident.

``Being a star athlete, a lot of people give you pretty much whatever you want - as an 18, 19-year-old kid,'' Aaron said. ``A lot of kids don't know how to handle it. Before you know it, you think you can pretty much get away with anything. You forget to live like a regular person.

``We just try to teach these kids not to get so caught up in that. There is life after football and you have to be prepared for that. You can't go into situations where you just expect people to hand you things your whole life, because it's going to stop one day.''

Ben's career at the Rose Bowl ends Saturday. There will be a bowl game to play, but what he wants now is to have one over his USC cousin, to take down Heisman candidate Leinart and top-rated USC.

``I'm looking forward to it,'' Ben said. ``I ain't shying away from nobody. We feel we have the best secondary in the Pac 10 and we're going to go out and try to prove it and put some licks on these guys and create some turnovers.

``There's no fear on this side of their receivers and quarterback. We view them as players, just like us. Nobody is perfect.''

Aaron learned that lesson a long time ago.

``I'm grateful for the time I played,'' Aaron said. ``I tell my friends, at least at one point in my career I was the best. I count my blessing.''

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) UCLA safety Ben Emanuel (24) would love to celebrate an upset over top-ranked rival USC in his final game for the Bruins.

(2) The Bruins Ben Emanuel got advice from his cousin Aaron to help keep his focus on the field.

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer