Orange County Register

I had almost forgotten how unabashed Rick Neuheisel was at Pac-10 Media Day a week ago. To some extent he was simply playing the game and making a good pseudo first impression with the media in a forum that was otherwise rather dull.

But I also think he believed what he said, at least most of it  Check out some of his highlights:

“He looked like he put his lips in a box of white-powdered donuts.”

• He said this about quarterback Kevin Craft, who was apparently quite nervous while leading a spring scrimmage. Neuheisel knows he absolutely has to have a great QB in order to have a great team, so you can expect him to be frank on the issue.

“When we catch them … I say ‘when’ …”

• I don’t even remember what he said after this. It doesn’t matter. Neuheisel looked directly at the room of reporters and said this with a straight face, pausing to stare after saying the second “when.” He was talking about USC and he was not joking. It reminded me of a politician speaking to his constituents. He wants everyone to know that since the Trojans are the measuring stick he fully intends to reach it. It was a pretty cool moment.

“We can recruit anyone in the country. We’re going to fight them on every corner.”

• Here again he was talking about USC and he seemed to be almost disgusted by his school’s recent shortcomings. It was as if he had had enough of the excuses for why the Bruins have not attracted better football players in the past decade, losing one fight after another to that neighborhood bully. 

“You are asking for it.”

• This was his answer when asked about the Bruins’ ambitious schedule in the near future. (Next year they play Kansas State and at Tennessee. In 2010 they play at Texas and at Kansas State.) Neuheisel said this while seated at a table with a handful of reporters. Right after he glanced over at Pete Carroll, who was sitting a table away with another group of writers. He mentioned how he admired the way Carroll put his teams out there, realizing they could only be taken seriously if they played a serious schedule. Neuheisel wanted us to know that, starting now, UCLA is for real.

amaya@ocregister.com

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