UCLA FOOTBALL WATCH : AN INSIDE LOOK

Twisting statistics: USC leads the Pacific 10 with 56 conference victories in the 1980s--UCLA has 52--but the Bruins’ overall winning percentage of .722 in the decade is superior to the Trojans’ .678.

Of course, USC was 3-7 against Notre Dame in the ‘80s, and UCLA was 10-0 against San Diego State and Cal State Long Beach.

Still, the Bruins were ranked ahead of the Trojans in the wire-service polls at the end of each of the last seven seasons and were 7-0 in bowl games.

Late push: It looked for a while as if the ‘80s would belong to UCLA in terms of conference victories, too. Going into the UCLA-USC game two years ago, the Bruins were 44-12-4 in the Pac-10, and the Trojans were 41-17-1.

Since then, USC is 15-0, UCLA 8-8.

Numbers game: Coach Terry Donahue is 5-8 against the Trojans--2-5 against John Robinson, 3-1 against Ted Tollner and 0-2 against Larry Smith.

Hang time: Punter Kirk Maggio has averaged 48.3 yards a punt when kicking from Bruin territory, about three yards more than his overall average.

No problem: Linebacker Marvcus Patton, on Saturday’s game at the Coliseum: “We know we can win if we play the best game we’ve ever played.”