THE REAL CLAIBORNE WON'T BE HELD BACK.

Byline: KAREN CROUSE

If you've ever found the sweet spot on your tennis racket or 3-wood, you know how USC middle linebacker Chris Claiborne feels when he hits a ballcarrier. Thanks to Claiborne, Florida State's Travis Minor and ASU's Ryan Healy have a pretty good idea of what it's like to be a racket with broken strings or a golf club with a cracked head.

The human body, however refined, wasn't designed to absorb the kind of pounding Claiborne delivers. Minor, the Seminoles' tailback, had to be peeled from the turf two weeks ago after Claiborne picked him up and chucked him like a roast in need of tenderizing on a fourth-and-1 play at the USC 4-yard line. Last week Healy, the Sun Devils' quarterback, had to be helped to the sidelines after being smothered by Claiborne. Healy spent the rest of the game trying to recover his senses.

To encounter Claiborne off the field is to marvel at his mellowness. Where in the name of Dick Butkus does he keep his mean streak the other six days of the week?

Sitting on a bench on the USC campus the other day, Claiborne greeted passersby as though he were a pastor pressing flesh with his congregation. When he's in street clothes, it doesn't seem at all a stretch to imagine Claiborne once singing in the choir of the St. James Church of God and Christ in Riverside.

They may seem incongruous, the spiritual and savage sides of Claiborne. But it's all explained quite succinctly in Exodus 21: ``eye for eye, tooth for tooth . . . burn for burn, wound for wound.''

You don't have to spend as much time in the film room as Claiborne does to see that it's a hurt-or-be-hurt world between the hash marks. The book on Claiborne seems to be: You can't contain him so try to cripple him.

Every Saturday afternoon the 6-foot-3 junior sees more chops than a butcher. The illegal block has become the crutch of outmatched offensive linemen, the most recent of which was ASU center Grey Ruegamer. Claiborne has grown so weary of having to watch his knees, it's becoming increasingly hard for him to imagine subjecting his body to another collegiate season of such punishment.

Think about it. If he's going to throw himself into harm's way like that every week, why not get paid handsomely for it? Claiborne's mother Millie is keen on seeing him earn his undergraduate degree before heading to the NFL. But it's looking more and more likely that his upper-level public policy classes are what will wind up on the back burner.

``It does become frustrating,'' Claiborne said of the underhanded methods adopted by opponents. ``I'm not going to cry about it. The (officials) don't call it so what can you do about it? But yeah, it does make you think.''

So must this: In August television football analyst Mel Kiper Jr. scripted a mock 1999 NFL draft and slotted only nine players ahead of Claiborne. And his stock has skyrocketed since then, his reputation approaching full bloom as a result of all the flowery praise he has received while amassing a team-high 45 tackles, four sacks and two interceptions, one of which he returned 40 yards for a score.

After Claiborne did everything but set up a hammock in Florida State's backfield on his way to 14 tackles, Seminoles head coach Bobby Bowden said Claiborne impressed him more than did Ohio State's Andy Katzenmoyer, whom FSU had faced in last season's Sugar Bowl.

Like Katzenmoyer, Claiborne has been a starter since his freshman year. Unlike the Ohio State standout, Claiborne does absolutely nothing to draw attention to himself off the playing field. He'd sooner cut out his tongue and season and broil it for you than unleash something like what ran from the mouth of Katzenmoyer recently: ``Every 10 or 15 years, a new breed of athlete comes along: bigger, faster, stronger. I see myself as a new breed of athlete.''

Claiborne looks like a prototype but in truth he's a throwback to a time when players took pride in flexing the muscle between their ears. Because he's as quick as wildfire and just as aggressive, it's easy to overlook his mental dexterity. Even some of his teammates are guilty as charged.

``Before this year, I figured he just had so much talent, he went on that,'' said junior David Gibson, who learned otherwise as soon as he made the switch from safety to linebacker and started sitting in on film sessions with Claiborne.

``He studies so much film,'' Gibson said. ``He has trained his eyes to see the smallest things. He'll say, `Watch this lineman; if he's leaning back (in his stance) that means he's going to pull.' A lot of the things he points out, I probably never would have noticed. I don't think people realize all the little things he does to try to improve himself. He treats football like a job.''

It figures to be, soon enough. But first, Claiborne has some loose dreams to run down. There's a Rose Bowl appearance, which escaped him by a year. Winning the Butkus Award also would be a thrill. Then there's the fantasy that just won't flicker out, no matter how hard head coach Paul Hackett tries to douse it.

``Coach,'' Claiborne will playfully plead during practice, ``Give me the ball (near) the goal line and let me run it in.''

To which Hackett will reply in kind, ``Are you drunk?''

Earlier this week, Hackett elaborated. ``I don't like that idea,'' he said. ``Our chemistry is where I'd like it to be.''

It helps make for a good mix when the team leader is as selfless as Claiborne, who said that as much as he'd relish his five seconds of fame at fullback, ``I can see where that would be frustrating for a running back to carry the ball all the way down the field and then have a linebacker run the ball in.''

Imagine that: a star who watches his teammates' backs and not just his own. Of all Claiborne's skills, that may be the one that counts the most.

CLAIBORNE FILE

Year: Junior

Position: Linebacker

Height/weight: 6-3/250

Hometown: Riverside, Calif.

Career highlights at USC:

1996 - Recorded 116 tackles and made two interceptions; made a career-high 20 tackles against Arizona State; had 19 against California.

1997 - Had 76 tackles; had a season-high 12 against Arizona State.

CAPTION(S):

Photo, Box

PHOTO (Color) Chris Claiborne

BOX: CLAIBORNE FILE (see text)