USC NOTEBOOK: HARRIS HIRED BY STANFORD.

Byline: Scott Wolf and Jill Painter Staff Writers

Pittsburgh coach Walt Harris accepted Stanford's job offer Saturday night, according to sources, leaving USC offensive coordinator Norm Chow available for other head-coaching openings.

Harris is expected to fly today to Pittsburgh and inform his team, then be introduced by Stanford at a press conference Monday.

``I would think they're fairly anxious to make a decision,'' Chow said Saturday before he'd heard the Cardinal hired Harris.

Chow, who also talked to BYU about its opening, is the mastermind behind USC's prolific offense that featured Heisman Trophy winner Carson Palmer two years ago, this year's Heisman Trophy winner, Matt Leinart, and Heisman finalist Reggie Bush.Because of Chow's success, he's an annual candidate for head-coaching vacancies.

``What can I do about it?'' Chow said about his prospects for the Stanford job. ``I've done what I can do.''

It's quite often that USC coach Pete Carroll faces the possibility of losing assistant coaches, especially Chow, who turned down Kentucky two years ago and was a finalist last season for the Arizona position. Carroll already has thought about who would run the Trojans' offense if Chow ever left.

``I do have a plan,'' Carroll said. ``I have a plan, in fact, for everybody leaving. I just can't help but go through it in my mind, just to be prepared and be ready if it happens.'' Carroll wouldn't say whether he'd fill the vacancy with someone from his staff or from outside the program. But if Chow departed, Carroll insisted the offense won't go with him. ``It's no different than losing Mike Williams or Carson Palmer or those guys,'' Carroll said. ``You have to regroup and put things back in order. We have a real strict concept of what we're doing that encompasses all of our coaches. I've been involved in it for 3 years. We're not going to lose anything about philosophy or style, no matter who leaves. I made it that way so we wouldn't be vulnerable if guys left.''

--Back to work: The Trojans returned to practice Saturday and will practice again today. They'll take Monday and Tuesday off, then resume practice Wednesday.

Practice had a different feel without Leinart and Bush, but Carroll was happy to provide some work for quarterbacks Matt Cassel and John David Booty, as well as younger players who will fill roles next season.

--Heisman watch: Carroll remained in Los Angeles to run practice and will head Monday to New York for the Heisman dinner. He joked that he had the same routine when Palmer won. USC players were gathering together in different groups to watch the Heisman broadcast, but Carroll was scheduled to be at a dinner with recruits during the presentation. He said he and the recruits would try to watch it.

--Injury report: Tailback LenDale White still has his right ankle in a boot and can't practice. White has a high ankle sprain and said he'll get an X-ray Monday. White injured his ankle in USC's 29-24 win Dec. 4 over UCLA. If it's up to White, he'll play against Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl. ``It's just sore,'' he said. ``I'm not missing this game for nothing.'' ... Defensive lineman Manuel Wright (high left ankle sprain), who has missed the past three games, participated in individual drills Saturday.

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NORM CHOW

USC offensive coordinator finished second in the battle for Stanford's coaching job.