Well, USC fans won't have Adam Abrams to kick around anymore.
Tying a school record with four field goals Saturday in the Trojans' 40-20 victory over Oregon State, Abrams effectively erased the memory of three missed field goals the week before against San Diego State.
Just as Paul Hackett had chided his kicker after the San Diego State game, he praised Abrams for his clutch performance in USC's Pacific-10 Conference opener.
"When Adam Abrams did what he did against San Diego State, there were a lot of doubters out there," Hackett said. "He did the job (against Oregon State) without a lot of friends around him. When every kick was an important kick, he went out and knocked down four."
A senior from The Bishop's School in La Jolla, Abrams was the Pac-10's most accurate field goal kicker in 1997 (90.9 percent). His string of 12 consecutive field goals was snapped against the Aztecs.
Already this season, his field goals have proved to be timely in the Purdue and Oregon State games.
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The Trojans (3-0) have proven to be an excellent fourth-quarter team.
Hackett attributed their fourth-quarter prowess to a combination of necessity, conditioning and attitude.
"We've had good conditioning and we were stronger against Oregon State in the fourth quarter and it showed," Hackett said. "We don't give up. Even when we're ahead, we continue to play hard in the fourth quarter."
And the Trojans will need to muster every bit of that reserve in the humidity expected at Saturday's game at Florida State. Hackett said that will be the real test for USC.
USC has allowed just three points in the fourth quarter in the past four games.
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Injury update: Starting center Eric Denmon (sprained ankle) and backup center Matt McShane (knee) will miss the Florida State game. Once again, Jason Grain will move from guard to center and David Pratchard will take his position at left guard. There is good news, Hackett said, as he expects linebacker Mark Cusano, safety Grant Pearsall and defensive end Lawrence Larry to be able to play Saturday.
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In three games, USC's special teams have blocked two punts (returning one for a touchdown) and a field goal and have returned a kickoff and a punt for a touchdown . . . The Trojans rank seventh in the nation in pass efficiency defense (80.6), 10th (tied) in turnover margin (+1.7), 16th in total defense (264.7) and 22nd in scoring defense (14.3).
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Ten Florida State players, including quarterback Chris Weinke, came down with an intestinal illness and couldn't practice Tuesday.
"Their defensive guys had it and now it has spread to our offensive front," said Coach Bobby Bowden, referring to six Duke players whose illness kept them out of last week's game against the Seminoles.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Published 9/23/1998