UCLA NOTEBOOK: NEW ROSE BOWL DEAL IS IN WORKS.

Byline: Brian Dohn Staff Writer

UCLA's lease with the Rose Bowl will expire at the end of this month, but sources say the sides are close to agreeing on a deal that likely will keep the Bruins playing in Pasadena into the next decade.

Both sides said they were pleased and optimistic with the course of negotiations, but neither UCLA nor the Rose Bowl would comment on specifics.

Terms and conditions of the contract are being worked out and could take some time, particularly issues that could arise if the Rose Bowl lures an NFL team. They are not considered deal-breakers.

According to UCLA's existing seven-year deal, the school will pay its rent based on a formula that includes 8 percent of ticket sales and television revenue and 50 percent of the concessions. UCLA paid nearly $1.2 million in rent last season.

The new deal is believed to be for at least seven years.

The new contract is not a surprise given UCLA's limited options and desire not to play at the Coliseum. In August, UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero said ``there's an excellent likelihood we will continue (at the Rose Bowl) for many, many years.''

UCLA, which moved into the Rose Bowl in 1982, is 5-0 there this season and 90-39-2 in 22 seasons.

--Bye and bye: Twelve weeks, 12 games, no bye weeks. The schedule left UCLA without much time to heal injuries, not much time for the new coaching staff to catch its breath and players wondering how the season went by so quickly.

Bruins coach Karl Dorrell has said he would have a say in future schedules, which will include bye weeks. But schedules are done years in advance and the next two seasons each have three bye weeks - one on the final Saturday of September and then two weeks off before the crosstown rivalry game with USC.

Dorrell said bye weeks are good and bad.

``I wouldn't recommend it,'' Dorrell said. ``Sometimes, when you don't have a bye and you have your health, you seem to find a good rhythm. You go through the season and everything is going well, and you don't like to break that string. You like that feeling of what you're doing in your routine.

``But you know how football is. You're going to have your injuries, and when you don't have a bye and you play 12 straight and you lose a kid with bumps and bruises, you don't get much time to heal.''

--Extra points: For the die-hards who need to see UCLA on television, YES Network will carry the game on tape delay at 11 p.m. ... Seniors making their Rose Bowl finale: DE Dave Ball, DE Mat Ball, DT Ryan Boschetti, S Kevin Brant, LB Nick Carey, LB Brandon Chillar, OL Tyson Clayton, DL Asi Faoa, TB Akil Harris, TE Blane Kezirian, OL Shane Lehmann, DT Rodney Leisle, WR Garrett Lepisto, LB Dennis Link, CB Keith Short, WR Ryan Smith and DE David Tautofi.