LAS VEGAS — Craig Ver Steeg's small stature meant he was never going to play collegiate football.
"But you like the game, and your high school coach lets you hang around and help, and you decide you want to be a coach," says Utah's first-year offensive coordinator.
He helped coach his Redondo (Calif.) High team and attended the University of Southern California as a "civilian."
Some acquaintances helped him get in touch with the Trojan football team. "I kinda started as an underling-student, whatever, just to be around the team," says Ver Steeg, who, with help from then-assistant coach Norv Turner, became a student manager as a sophomore. Ted Tollner eventually put him on the SC staff as a graduate assistant in 1984 and '85.
On Tuesday afternoon, Ver Steeg — who moved up the coaching ladder from graduate assistant at SC to graduate assistant at the U. to escalating positions with Cincinnati, Harvard, the NFL Chicago Bears and University of Illinois — tries to find a way for his Utes to beat the team where his career started.
Utah, 7-4, will meet the 6-5 Trojans at 1:30 p.m. MST on Christmas Day on ABC-TV in Las Vegas Bowl X at Sam Boyd Stadium south of Vegas.
Ver Steeg is too zeroed-in on his job, too humble, to think much about his roots.
"Well it's fun to play them, but I think, beyond that, you've just got to be excited for our guys," he said. "On the side, it's fun. I still know some people there. But we all do that (move from one school to the next) in our careers a lot.
"The focus is on the guys and the fact that they earned the right to get here," Ver Steeg says.
ON THE RUN?: Utah's rushing game finished the regular season ranked 12th in the NCAA, averaging 218.9 yards a game.
Dameon Hunter is ranked ninth nationally at 126.9 yards a game, while Adam Tate contributed 819 yards and a team-high 12 rushing touchdowns. Tate's 12 TDs tied him for second in Ute single-season records, with his 19 career rushing TDs placing him fifth in school history.
Utah's big backs and outstanding line are what USC coach Pete Carroll says his team needs to stop.
To keep the Trojans from doing that, Ver Steeg says the Utes have to keep their balance — throw the ball effectively. "To get to seven wins, it took some of those plays to take the heat off the running game to allow us to get to 12th in the nation," he said.
That's where Cliff Russell hopes to come in, but the fastest player ever at Utah will meet his sprinting match from the Trojan secondary.
"Speed on speed," Russell said. "For me, I've just got to step my game up. It's my last college game. The beginning of the future."
Russell has long had the attention of NFL scouts and is listed pretty high on a number of draft experts' lists, even if he doesn't have overwhelming numbers — 53 catches, 744 yards, four TDs.
Utah's never been a long-ball team since Russell started started in 1998, but he hopes to change that for one day. "I've got to demand (the ball), I guess," he said.
PRIZE FIGHT: Sunday's public bowl festivities included an eating contest between Southern Cal and Utah, claimed by the Ute team of Sione Pouha, Tevita Vakalahi and Stan Moleni. Bill of fare was Outback Steakhouse steak, chicken with fries and pies. USC later claimed on TV to have won.
No official announcement was made, though a bowl official said the "Buffet Bowl" winner had won the bowl game the past two years.
With both teams rubbing elbows at the outdoor dinner at the Fremont Street Experience in front of Utah's headquarters hotel, the Golden Nugget, good-natured ribbing got a little too real with cheers, boos, loud boasts and posturing from both teams. McBride ended up telling his players to save it for the game.
E-MAIL: lham@desnews.com