The college football program that operates smoothly under the Hollywood spotlight got a bit spooked Friday afternoon at Westside High School.
The No. 1-ranked Trojans, conducting a final practice in preparation for today's 7 p.m. clash with 14th-ranked Nebraska at Memorial Stadium, were forced to call an audible when a couple hundred NU fans infringed on their privacy.
The University of Southern California began its one-hour workout at Phelps Field, in plain view of the assembled throng of fans who had caught word of the USC presence. Omaha police and school officials failed to disperse the crowd to the liking of coach Pete Carroll.
So the Trojans packed up and moved — to the adjacent Westside baseball field, behind the football grandstand and hidden from view.
"I was just impressed again by Nebraska's following," Carroll said after the practice.
USC typically closes its practices on Fridays, when Carroll and his assistants take the Trojans through their script of first-quarter offensive plays. Other practices are open to the public, regularly creating a circus-like atmosphere.
For a few minutes Friday, it was a circus in Omaha. As the crowd refused to move from outside the fence around the football stadium, one USC coach grew upset and called a group of NU fans "rednecks," according to observers.
"We were all like, 'Whoa, did he just say that?'" said 19-year-old Alex Post, a University of Nebraska at Omaha student who came to watch the Trojans practice.
USC chose to practice at Westside because of its modern facilities and proximity to the Omaha Marriott, the team's hotel. Both the Westside football and baseball fields are covered with FieldTurf, the same surface as Memorial Stadium.
Westside Athletic Director Bob Reznicek said he first heard from USC officials last spring. Dennis Slutak, the Trojans' football operations director, confirmed last month that the team would practice at the school. He asked Reznicek to keep it secret.
"I told him we'd do our best," Reznicek said. "We did OK until (Thursday)." News of the practice leaked. And once it hit the Internet, it was too late.
