SOMETHING TO PROVE\USC and Northwestern aiming to erase the past.

Byline: Tim Brown Daily News Staff Writer

Apparently, it's really going to happen.

Today, Northwestern will play in the Rose Bowl.

Northwestern.

Northwestern, the Big Ten conference champion. The nation's third-ranked football team. A powerhouse with study halls. Ten-and-1, Wheaties boxes Northwestern. All right, Revenge of the Nerds, sure, but, heck, it's Northwestern.

Oh, and the Wildcats play USC.

Anyway, back to Northwestern . . .

"I think everybody in the football world thinks we're going to lose," USC quarterback Brad Otton said, "and everybody outside the football world wants us to lose."

At the Rose Bowl, the un-allied bowl champion will be decided, starting at 1:55 p.m. It's Big Ten versus Pac-10, just the way Northwestern left it some 47 years ago.

"We realize the significance of the season Northwestern's had," Otton said. "They were the big overachievers this year and everybody looks at us as the big underachievers of this year."

The bookmakers aside, USC is a realistic underdog for the first time this season. Its credibility was shot sometime around Notre Dame week and died a month later against UCLA. As compelling a story as was USC's return to the heights of college football, it was flung aside even before USC's first loss, right about the time Northwestern began winning big football games.

For perhaps the first time in its 28 Rose Bowls, USC is not the marquee program in this one. Northwestern, in its second, is. However, both seek degrees of legitimization here. USC must bury its past decade, while Northwestern must erase its entire tradition.

In that regard, this game, Northwestern coach Gary Barnett said, "will play whatever role we let it play. Should we lose this game then I think that it will still be used as a tremendous stepping stone for us. We'll just have to handle it a little bit differently.

"Should we be fortunate enough to win this game, then it would put us in a situation where we would have beaten four of the greatest teams in college football. I don't know, I have to look, but I don't know if anybody has beaten Notre Dame, Penn State, (Michigan) and USC in the same season. If we should, I think we would make a pretty good banner with that."

One thing's for sure, Northwestern never has.

"If we don't win it will end our shot of what we dreamed of," said Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern's injured linebacker. "We've worked so hard to get here. Instead of putting a period at the end of the season, why not put an exclamation point?"

Northwestern's grammatically correct season has led it smack into USC's question marks.

Can USC's execution and heart live up to its talent?

Can USC win a big game?

Can USC play four quarters?

Is there life after losing to Notre Dame and UCLA?

"It's not personal," USC defensive end Israel Ifeanyi said. "This is how I feel: To me, they've had their great season. Records off. Let's play."

Said Mike Riley, USC's offensive coordinator: "I think it's another step for us. There has been an aura of disappointment in our season. At the same time, you look at the starting point three years ago, and where we are now; it's been a pretty good deal.

"I think we can get a lot of that other stuff behind us, what lingers from UCLA and Notre Dame."

There is a sense that USC not only has yet to play its best game, but that it has yet to play a really good one. Because they qualified for the Rose Bowl despite a 2-2-1 record over the final five weeks of the regular season, the players and coaches have had something to answer for.

"I think there is an edge on us because we failed in the last game (against UCLA)," USC coach John Robinson said. "We have a point of determination. I think it is the determination our team needs to show."

By now, the Trojans are rather weary of talking about it. They are tired of defending their program's weighty tradition, especially when their opponent's could be stored nicely in your change pocket.

"We come out and play and we win," USC receiver Keyshawn Johnson said. "We have to make people believe we do belong in the Rose Bowl and we do deserve to be Pac-10 champions.

"I feel like we really want to go out and play."

That's good. Because Northwestern will be there.

Northwestern will be there.

ROSE BOWL: USC (8-2-1) VS. NORTHWESTERN (10-1)

Kickoff: 1:55 p.m.

TV/Radio: Ch. 7; KMPC-AM (710).

Aches and pains: USC offensive guard Dong Koo (ankle) is out; fullback Rodney Sermons (hamstring) is questionable.

USC update: This is the Trojans' 28th Rose Bowl team, only the seventh with three nonvictories, and the 12th with fewer than nine victories. . . . After a 6-0 start, USC was 2-2-1, including losses to Notre Dame and UCLA and a tie against Washington. . . . It defeated one ranked team - Arizona, in the third week of the season. . . . USC, ranked 17th in the nation, won the Pacific-10 Conference co-championship with a 6-1-1 record. . . . All-America receiver Keyshawn Johnson caught 90 passes, a conference record, and led the conference in receptions (8.2 per game) and receiving yards (110.7). His 12 consecutive 100-yard receiving games over two seasons is an NCAA record. . . . Brad Otton will start in USC's two-quarterback system, though he will share time with Kyle Wachholtz. They combined for 23 touchdowns, 2,763 passing yards and seven interceptions. . . . Otherwise, the Trojans are thin in the backfield. Tailback Delon Washington gained 1,058 yards, USC's first 1,000-yard rusher since 1990. He had five 100-yard games, including the past three. . . . USC led the conference and was 11th in the nation in scoring defense.

Northwestern update: This is Northwestern's second Rose Bowl team. Following the 1948 season, the Wildcats defeated Cal 20-14 under coach Bob Voigts. . . . Northwestern defeated, among other teams, Notr e Dame, Michigan and Penn State. It lost in the second week to unranked Miami of Ohio. . . . The third-ranked Wildcats won the Big Ten Conference with an 8-0 record. Their conference miss was 10-1 Ohio State. . . . Sophomore running back Darnell Autry rushed for more than 100 yards in all 11 games and has an overall streak of 12. He led the conference with 152.3 yards per game and was a second-team All-American. . . . Quarterback Steve Schnur passed for 1,456 yards and nine touchdowns. He was intercepted five times. . . . Schnur's favorite target is D'Wayne Bates, who caught 42 passes for 744 yards and five touchdowns. Autry's 21 receptions were second on the team. . . . Center Rob Johnson and guard Ryan Padgett were first-team all-conference players. . . . The defense allowed 12.7 points per game, though it will be without All-America linebacker Pat Fitzgerald, who broke his leg Nov. 11 against Iowa. Sophomore Don Holmes has replaced him. . . . Senior cornerback Chris Martin (5-foot-8, 183) likely will get most of the coverage on 6-foot-4, 210-pound Keyshawn Johnson.

Series: USC and Northwestern have played four times, and USC has won four times. They last met in 1969, when USC defeated the Wildcats 48-6 at the Coliseum.

1996 Rose Bowl: USC vs. Northwestern

CAPTION(S):

PHOTO[ordinal indicator, masculine]CHART

Photo (1--color) USC coach John Robinson says his team's determination needs to show in today's Rose Bowl. (2) "Everybody in the football world thinks we're going to lose," says USC's Brad Otton, "and everybody outside (it) wants us to lose." Associated Press Box ROSE BOWL USC (8-2-1) VS. NORTHWESTERN (10-1) (see text)