It Wasn’t Luck; USC Really Had to Urn It

The resurgence of USC football has been attributed to the arrival of Pete Carroll in 2001. Maybe the ghost of John McKay has played a part as well.

Morning Briefing has confirmed that McKay’s ashes were secretly spread on the Coliseum turf after his death in June 2001. McKay’s widow, Corky, who died of cancer in April of this year at 73, reportedly was involved in carrying out her husband’s wishes.

Since then, USC has lost only two games at the Coliseum, and none since a 21-16 loss to Stanford on Sept. 29, 2001.

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Trivia time: The 1979 USC team, featuring quarterback Paul McDonald and running backs Charles White and Marcus Allen, defeated Ohio State in the Rose Bowl, 17-16, to finish 11-0-1. What was Carroll’s connection to the Buckeyes that year?

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Nipped in the bud: McKay used to like to tell about the USC-UCLA game of 1973, when the Rose Bowl was on the line. UCLA, coached by Pepper Rodgers and led by quarterback Mark Harmon, came onto the Coliseum field carrying long-stemmed red roses.

USC linebacker Jimmy Sims, according to McKay, walked over to him and said, “Look at those [guys]. They actually think they have a chance.”

USC won, 23-13.

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The end result: That 1973 USC team lost to Ohio State, 42-21, in the Rose Bowl, but in a rematch the following year, USC won, 18-17. Pat Haden threw the winning touchdown pass to J.K. McKay and the two-point conversion to Shelton Diggs.

When McKay and Lynn Swann were the starting wide receivers, Haden had a problem.

“When I’d get to the line of scrimmage, I looked to the left and there was Lynn Swann, tall, fast, great hands and an All-American,” Haden says. “On the other side was this scrawny little kid. So who do I throw to? The little guy on the right, because he’s the coach’s son.”

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Low blow: Of the rather diminutive Haden, J.K. McKay says, “As a wide receiver, you like to make eye-to-eye contact with your quarterback. With Pat, I couldn’t even make forehead contact.”

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Whatever it takes: Fred Funk won $925,000 at the Skins Game over the weekend after wearing a pink flowered skirt for one hole on Saturday to settle a wager with Annika Sorenstam after she had hit the longer drive.

“If that’s what a skirt will do for your putting,” e-mailed reader Garner Simmons of Woodland Hills, “please tell Annika I’m a size 14.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1943, the Detroit Lions played their first traditional Thanksgiving Day home game, facing the Chicago Bears. The Lions, naturally, lost, 19-16.

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Trivia answer: Carroll was the Buckeyes’ secondary coach under Earle Bruce.

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And finally: Former USC coach John Robinson, appearing on FSN’s “Best Damn Sports Show Period,” said Reggie Bush was “as good as anyone I’ve ever seen in college.”

Keep in mind that Robinson coached that ’79 team that had Allen and White.

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Larry Stewart can be reached at larry.stewart@latimes.com.