EppsNet

• C. L. Max Nikias Named 11th President of USC: http://bit.ly/9qgs5c #

As a member of the Trojan Network and a graduate of the School of Engineering, I make myself available to answer questions from current USC engineering students about what life might have in store for them.

I got an email today from a young man who included this priceless bit of information: “When you got your master’s degree, I was one year old.”

Really?! It seems like just last week but thanks for reminding me that 20 years have gone by.

Look kids — if you want to do a computation like that, go ahead, but keep the results to yourself . . .

USC in the foreground, downtown in the background . . .

OK, but I’m more of a college football fan so here’s a picture of Reggie Bush at USC:

• Just Like Football: USC 67, UCLA 46 #
• RT @Lileks: To recap: if you drink in the morning, you're an addict. If you drink in the morning near an athletic facility, you're a fan. #

• RT @ArashMarkazi: http://twitpic.com/xzktx – The Pete Carroll era is officially over. #

NEW YORK (AP) — From the first practice in training camp until the last game, Brian Cushing was a tackling machine for the Houston Texans.

That’s exactly what the team sought when it chose the linebacker from Southern Cal 15th overall in the draft last April. What the Texans also got is The Associated Press 2009 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year.

Cushing was a runaway winner in balloting by a nationwide panel of 50 sports writers and broadcasters who cover the league. Cushing received 39 votes Tuesday, easily beating Buffalo safety Jairus Byrd, who had six, and became the second Texans linebacker in four seasons to win the award. DeMeco Ryans took it in 2006.

— Texans LB Cushing named top rookie – NFL News – FOX Sports on MSN

USC’s mascot is a guy on horseback waving a sword. UCLA’s is a kid in a homemade bear suit.

— Jim Murray, Los Angeles Times, Nov. 25, 1973

It hasn’t been a great season for Pete Carroll and the Trojans — but they’re still three touchdowns better than UCLA.

FIGHT ON!

Steven B. Sample, president of the University of Southern California since 1991, announced on Nov. 2 that he will retire in August 2010.

Sample is widely credited with bringing about an institutional rise at USC that is unparalleled in American higher education.

— USC News

I’m so proud of what USC’s been able to accomplish academically under the leadership of Dr. Sample. When I went to USC in the pre-Sample era, the conventional wisdom in Southern California was that the rich kids went to USC and the smart kids went to UCLA.

(No one in my immediate family is or ever has been rich. I was able to attend USC on an academic scholarship, although it must be admitted that my wife and I both have rich but not overly bright cousins who also graduated as Trojans.)

Since 1991 though, SAT scores at USC have gone up more than 300 points. They passed up UCLA years ago and the gap continues to widen, much to the chagrin of Bruin alums.

So the way it works now is that the rich kids and the smart kids go to USC, and if you don’t fall into either one of those categories, you might be UCLA material.

Thank you, Steven B. Sample!

FIGHT ON!!!

FIGHT ON!

• RT @LAMase: #USC Coach Carroll press conf: "It was nice to beat Notre Dame twice." #

Notre Dame really believed this was going to be the year they ended the losing streak to USC. The university had pre-authorized the tearing down of the goal posts if the Irish won . . .

Some highlights from Rick Neuheisel’s Sunday night conference call:

It’s time for us to just keep fighting. I just believe it to be a journey that is necessary and we’re going to get there.

I’m not pressing the panic button, even though there are a lot of naysayers who don’t want me to.

I’m talking about the journey that it is. I don’t know when the end of it is. I know that where we’re going is an exciting place. That doesn’t mean people are going to be happy with how it’s arrived at.

LOL! FIGHT ON!

We hope to keep this thing going. It’s a big deal to us. It’s special. So we’ve got to hang onto it next time around when they come to our place. We have to get after it and see if we can keep the thing going. Because it’s very special for the SC family to continue to be on top of this rivalry.

— Pete Carroll

FIGHT ON!

Hi everybody! It’s me, Lightning!

I’m excited because this week is USC vs. Notre Dame, the greatest intersectional rivalry in college football!

I love USC because my owner went to USC. Hooray! I hate Notre Dame. Grrrrrrrrr!

Do you know what I do when Notre Dame beats USC? Neither do I because I’m only six years old.

— Lightning

• For nothing in the white hotel but love / Is offered at a price we can afford — D.M. Thomas #
• RT @HiltonHB Waterfront – Come decked out in USC gear & colors this Sat. to watch the game at Shades Lounge and get 10%off your bill #

• RT @USCTrojans_com: W. Golf. USC, Song Take Mason Rudolph Titles http://bit.ly/110U6M #

Ladies and gentlemen, your University of South Carolina Gamecocks: