Bill Plaschke is excited about the revitalized crosstown rivalry between USC and UCLA

[T]he shiny, new-car feel to this rivalry needs no clarification.

College football around here hasn’t felt this much preseason sizzle in years. College football around here has become bigger than one team, bigger than one coach, as big as it’s been since before Toledo was holy.

It’s become pressure squared, drama doubled, a story of two teams fighting different fights but, for the first time in a long time, staring mostly at each other.

but not quite as stoked on the Bruins’ chances to make a splash in the Pac-10.

When asked about his quarterback, Neuheisel asked esteemed veteran Associated Press scribe John Nadel whether he had any eligibility remaining.

We have to stay healthy, Neuheisel said.

Yeah, in which case they might win half of their games.

There’s also the annual talk about how This could be the best defense USC has ever had, X number of the backups at position Y could start for most teams in the country, etc. Given recent history, I think we’ll just wait and see about all that.