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Notes and observations as USC and Texas prepare for a game that can’t possibly match their 2006 encounter ... LOS ANGELES >> You might be surprised to hear which USC coach was in tears in the locker room immediately after the Trojans lost to Texas, 41-38, in the BCS title game. Was it Pete Carroll? Steve Sarkisian? Ed Orgeron? No, someone who has a less-emotional image: Lane Kiffin. Perhaps ...

RANGERS at ANGELS When: Today, 7 p.m. Where: Angel Stadium TV: Fox Sports West THE PITCHERS ANGELS RHP BUD NORRIS (2-5, 4.25) vs. Rangers: 2-2, 4.33 ERA At Angel Stadium: 4-3, 1.79 ERA Hates to face: Shin-Soo Choo, 4 for 9 (.444), HR, 2B Loves to face: Mike Napoli, 3 for 19 (.158), 10 Ks RANGERS RHP NICK MARTINEZ (3-6, 5.40) vs. Angels: 2-3, 2.76 At Angel Stadium: 0-1, 2.61 Hates to face: Kole Cal...

ASTROS at ANGELS When:xa0Wednesday, 7 p.m. Where: Angel Stadium TV: Fox Sports West THE PITCHERS ANGELS LHP TYLER SKAGGS (1-5, 4.86) vs. Astros: 2-2, 3.38 ERA At Angel Stadium: 2-6, 5.09 ERA Hates to face: Jake Marisnick, 3 for 3, double, HR Loves to face: Cameron Maybin, 0 for 7 ASTROS RHP LANCE MCCULLERS (7-3, 3.97) vs. Angels: 3-1, 1.55 At Angel Stadium: 0-0, 1.50 Hates to face: Shane Robinson, 2 for 4, walk Loves to face: Andrelton Simmons, 2 for 11, 3 Ks Advertisement ...

At the conclusion of an NFL debut week defined by stifling defense and overmatched offenses, Philip Rivers cocked his right arm and fired a deep pass into the Denver night sky. Seven minutes remained in the AFC West’s Monday night tete-a-tete, and the Chargers, fresh off forcing their second tuover of the fourth quarter, still trailed by two scores as Rivers’ throw soared toward a streaking Trav...

ANAHEIM >> A pair of headphones engulfed Justin Verlander’s ears Tuesday afteoon. A giant computer monitor, maybe a foot in front his face, commanded his attention. Glance up a couple inches and Verlander could watch the Detroit Tigers play the Cleveland Indians on a television inside the Astros’ clubhouse, but with his first pitch a few hours away, his gaze stayed true. His uniform may ha...

The best reason to watch the Galaxy game in Carson this weekend (7:30 p.m. Spectrum SportsNet) is not to see L.A., plumbing new MLS depths, but to take in all-conquering, MLS-leading Toronto FC, already being talked about as the best team ever in MLS. Toronto (17-3-8) became the first MLS team to qualify for the playoffs last weekend, with U.S. inteational Jozy Altidore scoring twice in a 4-0 ro...

Middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin is coming off his toughest fight, a narrow victory over Daniel Jacobs in March at Madison Square Garden. It strengthened Golovkin’s legacy some, but not as much as it could have because Jacobs’ name doesn’t carry worldwide weight. Universally, Canelo Alvarez’s carries a whole lot, so that’s why Golovkin and his team are looking at Saturday’s highly anticipate...

SAN FRANCISO — Good moing. The Dodgers did not lose a game Monday. But their demons pursued them into the early-moing hours. It took until 2:11 Tuesday moing but the Dodgers’ losing streak reached 11 (the longest in Los Angeles history) thanks to an 8-6 loss to the San Francisco Giants that took more than six hours to complete. The forces of nature helped the Dodgers avoid their fate for awh...

It had been bothering her for a little while. She had thought it was a minor injury but before the start of the 2016 track and field season, Long Beach State redshirt junior Mikalya Florez went to a doctor, got an MRI and found out she needed ACL surgery. Florez was forced to miss both the track and cross country seasons. It was a tough break for Florez but she knew she could battle back. “I was p...

LOS ANGELES >> One didn’t ea a penalty and one did, but two controversial incidents of targeting between UCLA and Hawaii last Saturday might leave the Bruins without two of their starting linebackers for this week’s game against Memphis. Senior Kenny Young, who was forced out of last Saturday’s game after getting leveled on a blindside block, will go through the concussion protocol this we...

LOS ANGELES >> Just before Rams quarterback Jared Goff disappeared into the Coliseum tunnel late Sunday afteoon to celebrate his first win as an NFL quarterback, he paused, peeked over to a hundred or so fans shouting his name from the stands and raised his right arm to the sky. The roar that immediately erupted was unlike anything we’ve heard from the Coliseum for an NFL team in what seem...

Mike McCoy was the Broncos’ offensive coordinator. Then he became the Chargers’ head coach. And now? The Broncos’ offensive coordinator. Again. Not much of a move, geographically, but the changes have taken their toll. “Well, I’m gray,” he told Denver reporters on Friday with a laugh. “I’ve aged a little bit.” Thirty-eight losses in four seasons can do that to a man. When the Chargers hired McCoy ...

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles’ celebration of landing the 2028 Olympic Games next week will include Inteational Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach. Bach will light the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum’s Olympic cauldron during the Rams-Washington game Sept. 17, the Southe Califoia News Group has leaed. Bach’s two-day visit to Southe Califoia will come four days after the IOC in Lima, Per...

SEATTLE — If the Angels hope to get to the postseason, they are going to have to reverse this trend with their starting pitchers. Ricky Nolasco provided the latest disappointing performance, allowing four runs in 3⅔ innings in the Angels’ 4-3 loss to the Seattle Marinersxa0on Fridayxa0night. Angels starters have a 6.53 ERA in the last 20 games. The work of the bullpen and the offense has kept them fro...

For the first time since 2006, the “Milk Bucket” is headed back to Mayfair as the Monsoons (3-0) beat Lakewood (0-3), 21-18, at Ron Yary Stadium. “This is the biggest win in 30 years,” Mayfair coach Derek Bedell told the team. “We have a lot of things to work on but we are going to celebrate first.” It was a back-and-forth game in the first half as both teams had multiple miscues and penalties, wi...

LONG BEACH >> Deshaun Harvey was the spark St. Anthony needed on Friday against Wilson, with the quarterback picking up a crucial third down in the fourth quarter before throwing the winning touchdown in a 14-6 victory at Clark Field. The Saints (2-0) have won 13 consecutive games at home, and this is their first victory over the Bruins (1-2) in more than 25 years. The local rivalry wasn’t p...

LOS ANGELES >> For months they lived together, trained together and prayed together. So it only made sense that when the Dodgers’ two teams in the Dominican Summer League played each other for the championship Sunday, they celebrated the win together. When “DSL Dodgers 2” beat “DSL Dodgers 1” in the title game, 6-4, it marked the second time in the history of the 33-year-old league that two ...

COSTA MESA >> You can count them all on one hand. There is John Lee, an All-America kicker at UCLA whose NFL career lasted 11 games. There isxa0Hines Ward, the five-time Pro Bowl receiver who spent the first months of his life in Seoul. There is Kyle Love, the Panthers defensive tackle whose father was a U.S. Army colonel once stationed in South Korea. The Chargers have made Younghoe Koo the n...

By Ryan Kartje [email protected] @Ryan_Kartje on Twitter THOUSAND OAKS >> Wade Phillips has been in this position before. Four of the past six times he has switched teams, to be exact. And so, when you ask about his conce transitioning from last year’s 4-3 defense to his vaunted 3-4, a topic that seems to whip fans of his new defenses into a state of nervous hysteria, Phillips calmly brushe...

Garrett Richards has joined the Angels in Texas and could be activated within a few days, which would be a surprising acceleration of his rehab. General Manager Billy Eppler said Thursday night that the Angels simply wanted to have their medical and baseball staffs give Richards a full evaluation in person before deciding his next step. Eppler said it’s possible Richards could retu to Triple-A f...