ROSE BOWL NOTEBOOK: BROWN COULD GET PAY RAISE.

Byline: Daily News Staff and Wire Services

ANAHEIM - With Texas preparing for its first Rose Bowl, coach Mack Brown is in line for a raise.

Brown already is one of college football's highest-paid coaches with a salary of slightly more than $2 million a year. Athletic director DeLoss Dodds told the Associated Press on Monday that details of the new contract will be announced during the week.

``We like what we've got,'' Dodds said. ``He's done a wonderful job with the program.''

Brown declined to discuss details of his pending contract extension but said he was ``excited about the talks.''

``We haven't yet accomplished everything we've wanted to here,'' Brown said Monday at a Rose Bowl ceremony for Texas and Michigan at Disneyland. ``There's no better place to coach than the University of Texas.''

During the Disneyland ceremony, both coaches were presented a sculpture of Sleeping Beauty's Castle, which Brown gave to his daughter.

--They meet again: Saturday's Rose Bowl will be the first meeting between Texas and Michigan. But Brown and Michigan coach Lloyd Carr have matched wits in the past.

Brown and Carr squared off as all-star coaches in the East-West Shrine Game in San Francisco in 2001. Brown's West team won 20-10.

``We spent all the time with them,'' Brown said. ``It was a good week, a fun week. Lloyd's a great guy.''

The coaches first met on a high-school sideline in Chicago in the late 1970s, when they were working their way up through the coaching ranks. Brown was an assistant coach at Iowa State and Carr was an assistant at Illinois, and both were at the game to watch potential recruits.

Carr said he and Brown have remained in limited contact over the years and formed a bit of a bond.

``It's not the kind of relationship where we communicate frequently, but we've always enjoyed each other,'' Carr said. ``And we feel very comfortable calling each other if we have something we want to discuss about a game or anything like that.''

--Texas-sized intensity: Brown was encouraged by the level of intensity he saw at the Longhorns' practice Monday morning. It was the team's first full-contact practice since arriving in Southern California.

``We stayed out there over two hours and scrimmaged some," Brown said. "We had our inside drill, live tackling, and I think it's the first message (to the players) that they're back to the bowl game.''

--Where's the beef? The Longhorns enter Saturday's game favored by less than a touchdown. They are prohibitive favorites in one of Southern California's other Rose Bowl-week traditions. The Longhorns will take their Texas-sized appetites to Lawry's this evening for the Beef Bowl.

Texas has been serious about its beef for much of the program's existence. School lore says the Longhorns served the original Bevo, the school's mascot, at their 1920 football banquet.

--No stargazing allowed: It's not like Carr expected he and his players would have peace and quiet once they left home and came to Southern California to prepare for the Rose Bowl. But Carr has been able to limit the madness that surrounds his team.

In last year's visit, ultimately a 28-14 loss to USC, Carr's Wolverines stayed at the Beverly Wilshire hotel. Carr noted that during the Wolverines' stay, Michael Jackson was at the Beverly Wilshire to be interviewed for ``60 Minutes,'' Mike Tyson stayed there, and four NBA teams came and went.

This year, Michigan is staying at the less glamorous Park Hyatt hotel in Century City.

``There's no stars to hang out with,'' Carr said with a smile.

--Wolverines infirmary: Receiver Jason Avant, recovering from arthroscopic surgery on his right knee following Michigan's loss Nov. 20 to Ohio State, remains questionable.

--Longhorns infirmary: Reserve linebacker Scott Derry missed practice Monday because of the flu.

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LLOYD CARR

Michigan coach first met Texas counterpart Mack Brown at a high school game in Chicago in the late 1970s.