By ADAM MAYA / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
LOS ANGELES ? Does UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel have to beat USC to keep his job? It will be the elephant in the Coliseum when the Bruins take the field Saturday.
Neuheisel, amid heavy speculation he could be replaced by next week depending on how the Bruins fare this weekend, said Wednesday he doesn?t see the USC game as a must-win as far as his job is concerned.
?I feel like I got to do my best every day.? He said. ?That?s what I do. I come to work, I enjoy coming to work, I love coaching the kids, I like the staff. We?re going to keep doing our best every day. All that other stuff is on someone else?s desk.?
That desk belongs to Athletic Director Dan Guerrero, who said in October he is not in favor of in-season coaching changes. With a loss Saturday, UCLA would be eligible for a bowl game if it doesn?t reach the Pac-12 title game by virtue of a Utah loss to Colorado and lose again to fall to 6-7.
In 2007, Guerrero fired then-UCLA coach Karl Dorrell two days after the Bruins lost to USC, but he gave Dorrell the option to coach the impending bowl game. Dorrell declined.
Neuheisel?s record after nearly four full seasons in Westwood is 21-27. He has a year left on his contract. The Bruins are having arguably their best season under Neuheisel, winning three of their past four, and have a shot at winning the Pac-12 South Division title and playing in the Pac-12 title game and the Rose Bowl.
?We?ve earned the right to play for a championship, no matter what anybody else says,? Neuheisel said. ?There?s no asterisk on it if we win it. We?re playing for first place, which was our goal along.?
Senior receiver Taylor Embree said Neuheisel has kept the players focused on them and off him all season.
?All season we?ve heard, Your coach is on the hot seat,? Embree said. ?But he never brings that up. It?s always about the opponent. That?s something he does a great job of.?
It?s been that much more critical this week. Safety Tony Dye said Neuheisel has stuck to the same routine that UCLA has had success with in three of the past four. He said his teammates are aware Neuheisel?s job might be on the line against USC.
Dye said it hasn?t been a distraction this week because there is so much more at stake, which has allowed the players to put Neuheisel in the back of their minds and regard it as another unifying force.
?There are so many factors around this game but I can say that that?s the last one we?re thinking about as a team, saving Coach Neuheisel?s job,? Dye said. ?Of course I?d love to save his job because he?s the class I came in with.
?That?s my head coach and I love him to death. This is his dream job. And I want him to have it. If winning this game means he gets to keep it, then ? we?re going to win it.?
NOTES
Neuheisel said he still has not decided on a backup for quarterback Kevin Prince against USC, making it less likely UCLA would turn to Richard Brehaut in relief. "He's getting closer," Neuheisel said of Brehaut, who is still working his way back from a broken leg. ?
Linebacker Sean Westgate (concussion) did not practice for the second consecutive day.
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