You likely saw headlines this week about Bush and a lawsuit brought against him by a different marketer who wants his money back.

You also probably saw the headlines about another former USC running back, O.J. Simpson, and his return to a courtroom.

You may have even heard about USC's other O.J., as in O.J. Mayo, the prized basketball recruit who debuts today.

Headlines you haven't seen are ones about USC's current quarterback, running backs and wide receivers.

The defensive-minded Trojans (7-2) still boast a bevy of NFL prospects but not at the skill positions on offense heading into today's not-as-big-as-we-predicted game vs. Cal (6-3).

The Bears have tumbled the past month, but it's their job today to capitalize on the Trojans' "down" year. Down, because USC has lost two games, including the upset-of-all-time to Stanford. Down, because they lack hotshot headliners, Heisman hopefuls and any real shot at the national championship.

"The expectations down there are: If you're not undefeated, things aren't going right," said Lane Kiffin, who served as USC's offensive co-coordinator before Al Davis hired him as the Raiders coach.

Kiffin made headlines in L.A. this week, too.

USC coach Pete Carroll cited Kiffin as the biggest loss from a coaching staff that's also bid adieu in recent years to Norm Chow (to the Tennessee Titans) and Ed Orgeron (to Ole Miss).

"I think we miss Lane the most. He's been here since the first day," Carroll told the Los Angeles Times in an extensive Q&A. "The fact is that he was on offense, and I'm on the other side of the ball. He's an extraordinary coach. You guys were (complaining about) him last year, too."

This year, media and fans down yonder have turned their anger to Steve Sarkisian. You remember that name, right? He shared USC's coordinator duties with Kiffin, at least until Kiffin took the Raiders job that Sarkisian rejected.

Sarkisian, though, is still highly regarded in football circles, according to one NFL personnel director, who also noted that USC's roster is still stocked with NFL talent.

But then how can Carroll's Tuesday news conference open with this question: "Why is your offense so boring?"

Yikes. We'd say that "boring" notion eliminates Carroll, a San Francisco native, as a possible savior to the offensively challenged 49ers, but boring would be an upgrade from what the 49ers are fielding.

Anyhow, Carroll claimed that the Trojans don't look boring to him: "I see it as the offense trying to get it right and trying to be really productive and use our guys well."

Trying? They're trying? They used to be executing, dominating. Now that they're not, it's the coach who falls on the sword, as Carroll did in his Q&A while taking blame for the Stanford upset.

"We really blew it against Stanford. We screwed it up because we played a guy that was hurt. I made a mistake on that. That was me," Carroll said. "That wasn't Norm or Lane or Eddy-O, or any of those guys. That was me screwing it up and not recognizing it, and sitting on the football at the end of the game. We kept throwing it with a guy with a broken hand."

That "guy" was quarterback John David Booty. He's surrounded by other "guys." He's not a star, not the way Matt Leinart and Carson Palmer were before him. His supporting cast doesn't feature Reggie Bush, Dwayne Jarrett, Steve Smith, LenDale White, Mike Williams or Keary Colbert—all first- or second-round NFL draft picks since 2004.

By losing so much skill-position talent so fast, it doesn't make life easy on an offensive coordinator. As Kiffin said: "It's about how fast you can turn over (new starters)."

USC could use a star such as Cal wide receiver/returner DeSean Jackson, who spurned the Trojans' recruiting bid. If Jackson comes through today as he did vs. Tennessee and Oregon (and didn't last year at USC), that could help sway other recruits to Cal.

Ranked 24th after reaching No. 2 a month ago, Cal (6-3) could get so much out of a win. Just think about the shelf-life of their last win against USC, a 2003 triumph that still seems fresh.

And just think about how devastating a loss would mean to a USC program already under siege—and facing possible sanctions, if Bush broke NCAA rules.

When's the last time the Trojans put three in the "L" column? That would be 2001, Carroll's first season, when USC went 6-6, including a 55-14 win in Berkeley on this very same November date.