Which Route to Run?

EL PASO —  There’s nothing instinctive about this move.

R. Jay Soward darts one direction, then the other, reverses field, fakes, then hesitates. Which way?

Should he stay or should he go?

“It has my head hurting every night,” said Soward, the spectacular but inconsistent junior receiver for USC who has until Jan. 8 to decide whether to make himself available for the NFL draft.

“I come home after practice and lay under the covers and go to sleep on the couch, or stare at the TV for hours, not knowing what I’m going to do.”

There was no great swell of “One more year!” chants for Soward after the Notre Dame game the way there were for junior linebacker Chris Claiborne.

That’s because not many imagined that Soward would consider leaving. Not after a season that petered out quietly after starting with the spectacular moments that have become Soward’s stamp--remember his do-it-all three-touchdown, 256-yard debut against San Diego State and that believe-it-or-not 80-yard punt return for a touchdown against California?

It didn’t end so spectacularly. Soward didn’t score a touchdown in the last five games, hampered at the very end by an ankle injury against Stanford that left him ineffective against UCLA.

Even so, if the Sun Bowl on Thursday against Texas Christian ends up being Soward’s last game for USC, some NFL team figures to take him in the first two rounds, even though he caught only 38 passes--and wasn’t even the Trojans’ leading receiver, a distinction that went to Billy Miller.

Some mock drafts have Soward being taken in the first round--CNN/SI’s, for one.

That would be a risky pick based solely on Soward’s jaw-dropping speed and instinctive moves, and on a player who has yet to fulfill his promise.

But if he stays? Who knows what he might be able to do?

“I talk to him every day and tell him he’s got to come back,” freshman quarterback Carson Palmer said. “He can win the Heisman, do this, do that. I expect him to come back, and I hope he does.”

Winning the Heisman might be a stretch, but getting mentioned in the same sentence is not.

He could also work to reduce his dropped passes and put up some serious receiving numbers--say, 1,000 yards receiving versus this year’s 615-yard season. Johnnie Morton had 1,520 yards receiving his senior year, Keyshawn Johnson 1,434.

“I think it would be better if he stayed,” said receiver coach Mike Wilson, who played 10 years for the San Francisco 49ers. “I just think with the maturity factor, as well as trying to make it through the season healthy, he should come back.

“He’s indicated to me that he’s coming back, and I heard him say the other day he’s coming back. He hasn’t deviated from that with me.”

Ah, that maturity factor. Soward is well aware of it.

“On the field, I know I can perform,” he said. “Off the field, that’s the only thing that has my mind in a daze. Because if I don’t want to do it, I’m not going to do it. I’m just that type of person. I do what R. Jay wants to do.

“Here, you can make mistakes, and it’s not going to affect you that much. You go to the next level, and if I don’t get up and go to a meeting or act lazy like I do, it’s going to affect me and it’s going to make me look bad.

“If I miss practice here, the papers are going to write about it, but there, they’ll say that stuff on ‘SportsCenter.’ Like, he’s suspended, or he’s doing this. The whole world will know about it.

“Up there, every little thing is so important. Any kind of mess-up can change your whole life on that level.”

All that, and the prospect remains so enticing. There are always people telling him he should go. His father, Rodney, thinks he is ready--physically, at least.

“The only thing he’s really worried about is what I’m worried about--the mental aspect,” his father said. “You know, am I going to be the type of responsible adult I have to be to take care of all my business? That’s the question.”

Soward said that Johnson, his idol, told him he should turn pro.

“Keyshawn, he said he thinks I should come out,” he said. “His reasoning is, in his situation, he didn’t come out after his junior year because he wanted to go back to college and have that college life. He says you’ve been here three years, you can’t do much else, except graduate.

“I agree, but then again that opportunity of sitting down in the Heisman room, the opportunity to play with my friends who I came in with. . . . There are so many opportunities on both sides. That’s why it makes my decision so hard.”

Getting up in the morning to go to class is another thing that makes staying hard, Soward admitted.

He’s a capable student when he decides to be--witness his good grades after Coach Paul Hackett suspended him last spring and for the first game of the season for inattention to academics. Going to class, however, is not his favorite pastime.

“There’ve been times where I just woke up and I’d say, ‘I’ve made up my mind, I’m going to go on to the NFL. I don’t have to go to class,’ ” Soward said. “There were times at the end of the semester when I’m just like, forget it, I’m not even going to finish.

“Then other mornings I’ll wake up and go to class and learn so much and be happy with school and say I could stay here.”

Hackett and Soward have knocked heads a bit--Soward says he had to show up for about 15 6 a.m. running sessions for missing class--and Soward vacillates between being appreciative and wanting Hackett to “loosen up” and let him be himself.

One thing there isn’t any question about is that Hackett wants him to stay. He’s convinced Soward will be better prepared for the NFL if he can perform consistently and not miss time because of injury or suspension.

He also knows that if Soward joins seniors Billy Miller, Larry Parker and Mike Bastianelli in departing, Windrell Hayes will be USC’s only returning receiver with any real experience.

“We know what kind of year R. Jay had, and we know what kind of year he’s capable of,” Hackett said. “It comes down to what he wants to do, but we are going to run a tight ship.”

Soward understands.

“When I talked to him to ask for the NFL prediction sheet for juniors, he kind of panicked on me and said, ‘I don’t think you should do that,’ ” Soward said. “I know his concern, he wants me to stay. I know that, and that makes me happy. I just have to sit down and talk more about next year and see what his plans are for me. That’s the most important thing in my mind, what his plans are for me next year.

“I’m still turning it over in my mind. I can’t just let the opportunity slip away without thinking about it.”

Matter of fact, he can hardly stop thinking about it.

“I know some people say I could be a first-rounder,” he said, “but looking back on my season, I think, ‘How?’ Maybe they’re just taking me off my ability. I don’t see in my mind how I could be a first-round draft pick right now.”

That might be true, but Soward has proven ability as a deep threat and as a punt and kickoff returner. And those 27 touchdowns--one for every 6.5 times he’s touched the ball for the Trojans--and the 16 plays of 50 yards or more grab some attention.

So should his inconsistency.

“I was lackadaisical this season,” he said. “Nine touchdowns, and none since Washington State. I was appalled at that.

“At times, my game was like a wave on the water. Up, down, up, down. It was the same way last year and my freshman year.

“I want to have that type of season more like a mountain, where you hit a peak and either keep going to the next peak or stay at the same level. I don’t think I played consistently game in and game out, a Chris Claiborne type of season, I’ll compare it to that. Really, I want to learn to do that. I feel I have to be more disciplined.”

One of the things that pulls him toward returning is his dream of being a Heisman finalist. If he can’t win, Soward wants to be in the room at the Downtown Athletic Club in New York when someone else does.

“I have a big picture of the Heisman in my locker,” he said. “I haven’t even looked at it in a while. The beginning of the year, after San Diego State, I was looking at it a lot. The middle part of the year, I wasn’t doing anything, the whole picture was covered with clothes.

“I didn’t even notice it was covered until before Notre Dame. I cleaned out my locker and there was that picture.”

Stay or go? Go or stay? Which way, R. Jay?

“I think I’ll know, if not on game day in El Paso, the day after the game,” he said. “Actually, it will probably be on the 8th. If I do declare, it might be like January 8th, 11:59, I might decide then.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

SUN BOWL

USC (8-4) vs. TCU (6-5)

Thursday, 11 a.m. PST

Channel 2

ATTENTION-GETTER

Coach Paul Hackett warned Trojans not to take TCU lightly, pointing to bowl losses by Oregon and Washington. Page 7

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Long Ball

R. Jay Soward is known for his long touchdown plays, but the Trojans aren’t as successful when they get big plays from him. Since 1996, the Trojans are 5-5 in games during which Soward has a touchdown play of at least 40 yards and 15-10 when he doesn’t. A look: *--*

Play Yards Result Year Kickoff return 98 lost to Arizona State, 48-35 1996 Reception 97 d. Illinois, 55-3 1996 Kickoff return 95 lost to Washington State, 28-21 1997 Punt return 80 lost to California, 32-31 1998 Reception 80 lost to UCLA, 31-24 1997 Kickoff return 78 d. Washington State, 29-24 1996 Reception 78 lost to UCLA, 48-41 1996 Reception 78 d. Nevada Las Vegas, 35-21 1997 Reception 77 lost to California, 32-31 1998 Punt return 74 d. San Diego State, 35-6 1998 Reception 65 d. California, 27-17 1997 Reception 60 lost to UCLA, 48-41 1996 Reception 53 d. San Diego State, 35-6 1998 Reception 44 d. Nevada Las Vegas, 35-21 1997

*--*