It’s Showtime for USC’s Morton in Victory : College football: He ties a school record with three touchdown catches as Trojans beat Oregon.

Johnnie Morton is a proud member of what he calls the USC “bomb squad.”

The group includes wide receivers Morton, Curtis Conway, Travis Hannah and Larry Wallace.

Morton, USC’s junior split end, did most of the damage for the squad Saturday against Oregon at the Coliseum.

He caught touchdown passes measuring 36, 25 and 22 yards from quarterback Rob Johnson as the Trojans beat Oregon, 32-10.

Morton’s performance was all the more impressive because he is recovering from two sprained ankles. And he was limping in the dressing room after the game.

He hurt his left ankle against San Diego State in a season-opening game. Two weeks later he hurt his right ankle against Oklahoma.

The injuries forced him to miss the Washington game a week ago Saturday in Seattle. The Trojans lost, 17-10.

“It was very frustrating,” Morton said. “It was the first game I’ve missed since high school (at South Torrance). I felt I let the team down.”

But now the “bomb squad” is intact. Last year, when USC’s quarterbacks threw only six touchdown passes all season, the “bomb squad” had another name: “wide blockers.”

Morton didn’t catch a scoring pass in 1991 after catching three as a freshman in 1990, including two against UCLA. The last catch in the waning minutes provided USC with a 47-45 victory.

Morton’s first touchdown catch from Johnson on Saturday came in the first quarter when Johnson changed the play at the line of scrimmage.

“The ball was there, but I had to reach for it a little bit,” said Morton, who stretched in the end zone for the catch that improved USC’s lead to 10-0.

His second scoring catch came in the second quarter, when he took the ball away from Oregon cornerback Herman O’Berry as the Trojans moved to a 24-7 advantage.

“Curtis was a decoy on the play, and everyone went for him except for one guy who was covering me,” Morton said. “Anytime I’m there with a DB, I’m going to get the ball.”

The third touchdown pass was a “hitch” route in the fourth quarter to provide USC with its final touchdown.

Morton was close to going out of bounds but hugged the sideline for the score.

“Curtis made one of the greatest blocks I’ve ever seen,” Morton said. “He took out two players.”

Morton’s three touchdown catches in a game ties a school record he shares with four other players.

He also caught three touchdown passes against San Diego State in a 31-31 tie. His six touchdown catches after only four games are the most in a season since Gary Wellman had six in 1989.

Morton reasons that the strength of USC’s receiving corps is such this year that if teams double cover any receiver, it will leave someone else open in single coverage for potential touchdowns.

USC had a 3-8 record last year, and Morton said that adversity has brought the team closer together.

He is a communications major at USC and the 6-foot, 195-pound receiver has ambitious goals.

“I want to get into modeling, acting, sports broadcasting and production,” Morton said.

Morton said he had an internship with the Arsenio Hall show during the summer.

“It was really a good experience. I didn’t hang out in one place. I had a general overview of the whole operation,” Morton said.

For Saturday, though, it was the Johnnie Morton show.