Navidi Arrives Home With a Piece of the Northwest : Rose: Former Esperanza lineman returns to Southland with Huskies, bringing along Washington’s stormy weather.

ANAHEIM —  Keith Navidi stood under threatening clouds on the practice field at Rams Park, where the Washington football team has spent more than a week preparing for its Rose Bowl meeting today with Michigan, and laughed at the irony.

For two years, the former Esperanza standout lineman has been adjusting to life in rainy Seattle. So what happens when Navidi and the Huskies arrive in sunny Southern California, looking for the security of a warm and hospitable environment in which to tune up for their Big Ten foes?

It pours.

“The guys (teammates) are blaming it on me,” Navidi said. “They say I brought (the rain) with me.”

If that’s the case, California could use a few more visits from Navidi to alleviate the drought. Which would be all right with him, particularly if those trips involve Pasadena on New Year’s Day.

“Us getting into the Rose Bowl is excellent,” Navidi said. “It’s something you get to do maybe once in your life and I’ve done it twice now. And I get to go home for Christmas for free.”

The No. 2 Huskies (11-0) beat Iowa, 46-34, in last year’s Rose Bowl. They are favorites to defeat the No. 4 Wolverines (10-1) today.

Navidi, however, hasn’t played much the past two seasons. The 6-foot-6, 266-pound defensive tackle red-shirted in 1990 and is third on the Huskies’ depth chart behind Outland Trophy winner Steve Emtman and junior Mike Lustyk. But Navidi looks at his lack of playing time philosophically.

“You’ve got to pay the dues in anything you do,” Navidi said. “You’ve got to work your way up. I never expected to start right away. I had some chances. I got into about 50 plays (this season).”

One of those was memorable for Navidi. In a 54-0 rout of Arizona in early October, Navidi sacked Wildcat quarterback George Malauulu, one of six sacks by the Huskies in the game. Since the game was televised on cable, some of Navidi’s family and friends in Yorba Linda saw the play.

“My friends called me to say they saw me on TV. That was exciting,” Navidi said.

And they might see Navidi in the trenches with increased regularity the next three seasons. Randy Hart, Washington’s defensive line coach, figures Navidi has a bright future with the Huskies.

“He fits in the program real well,” Hart said. “I would be surprised if he didn’t play a lot more next year. . . . He’s done a good job of learning what we do. He still has to develop speed-wise and strength-wise. He’s a very young player in the program. He’s still a puppy.”

At Esperanza, Navidi was well beyond the puppy stage. Before his elbow injury midway through his senior season in 1989, Navidi had 11 sacks and had blocked three field-goal attempts. That was only seven fewer sacks than he had the previous season, when he was an All-Empire League selection and high on the list of several college recruiters.

Navidi, an outdoorsman who enjoys fishing, said he checked out a few of the schools that were interested in him--including UCLA and USC--but was captivated by Washington, the team and the area.

“I wanted to get out of Southern California. I also wanted to go someplace that was greener and had good fishing,” said Navidi, 19, a pre-arts and sciences major. “I thought at first it was going to be too much rain, but you adjust. I love the smell of all those pine trees up there. I step out of my dorm and it feels like I’m in Big Bear.

“And this is a class-act program. The way they recruited me was very upfront and honest.”

Navidi said being away from home can be difficult, so he has taken every opportunity the Washington coaches have given to spend with his family the past few days. About 16 relatives and friends, Navidi said, will be at the game today.

Let’s hope they don’t forget their umbrellas. The forecast calls for more rain this afternoon.