UCLA NOTEBOOK: KANSAS AS CLOSE TO HOME AS FLETCHER ABLE TO GET.

Byline: Billy Witz Staff Writer

When Missouri backed out of a home-and-home series with UCLA last spring, the Bruins were able to fill one spot with Saturday's game at Kansas. UCLA tight end Bryan Fletcher, a St. Louis native, was not at all happy with the Missouri compromise.

Lawrence, Kan., is a 4 1/2-hour drive from St. Louis, so it's as close as Fletcher, a fifth-year senior, will get to playing at home. He'll have between six and eight friends and family members making the drive and he'll play against former high school teammate and Kansas cornerback Quincy Roe.

But as anyone from either state will be happy to tell you, Kansas and Missouri are a world apart.

``It's just not the same,'' Fletcher said. ``Missouri is in Columbia, which is only an hour-and-a-half from my home. They recruited me, I watched practices there, I went to their basketball camps. It's still in-state. In St. Louis, all you hear about is Missouri and St. Louis (University).''

--Another homer: The game also is one of the few times quarterback Cory Paus, from suburban Chicago, will play close to home. He's expecting about 30 people to make the trip.

--Hey, Bud: Reserve linebacker Dennis Link wasn't surprised to hear St. Louis Cardinals rookie Bud Smith pitched a no-hitter Monday against the Padres. Link and Smith, who were Pop Warner teammates in Lakewood, faced each other in Pony League and in high school, when Link played for Long Beach Poly and Smith for St. John Bosco.

``He was a great athlete,'' Link said. ``He used to throw it by pretty much everybody.''

--Honors: Receiver Tab Perry, who caught five passes for 113 yards and one touchdown, and kicker Chris Griffith, who booted field goals of 30 and 45 yards, were chosen Pacific-10 Conference offensive and special-teams players of the week for their parts in the Bruins' 20-17 victory over Alabama.