Clay Helton said after USC’s 34-27 loss to crosstown rival UCLA that all he knows to do at a time like this is put in 24 hours of work in the hope of getting another 24 the next day.
At minimum, Helton’s effort Saturday in the latest loss of a humbling 5-6 campaign for the Trojans was enough to accomplish that. If USC athletic director Lynn Swann has made up his mind about Helton’s future, Swann did not find Sunday a suitable time to announce it one way or the other. So Helton went back to his safe haven at the McKay Center Sunday morning, having the same meetings with the same people and discussing the same topics while trying to produce a much different result than the Trojans have found in losing four of their last five games.