With apologies to Thomas Wolfe, Rick Neuheisel and Pat Hill can go home again…Neuheisel to his alma mater UCLA as head coach, and Hill at least for a weekend.

Hill, who leads his Fresno State Bulldogs (2-1) into the Rose Bowl to play Neuheisel’s Bruins (1-2) this Saturday, began his coaching career in earnest at Valley College in Van Nuys back in the mid-1970s, just after graduating from UC Riverside.

The last time Hill and the Bulldogs were in Los Angeles, they nearly upset USC in one of the most exciting games of the 2005 season. Fresno State had the Trojans reeling until Reggie Bush made a cutback on a punt return and raced for the end zone, an electrifying run that sealed the victory for USC and the Heisman Trophy for the junior tailback.

Now Fresno State returns as a 7-point favorite against the Bruins, who have been outscored in their last two games by BYU and Arizona, 90-10.

This goes against the mantra Hill relishes, that of being the WAC underdog who challenges the big boys in the BCS conferences. It’s a good bet that Hill never thought his team would be favored against a Pac-10 team on the road when this game was scheduled.

But UCLA football fortunes, which deteriorated in the five years Karl Dorrell was coach, are slim these days, and Neuheisel has little to work with. Most of his players are left over from the Dorrell era and he’ll need a lot more time than it took Pete Carroll at USC to swing UCLA into a winning direction.

Neuheisel and offensive coordinator Norm Chow have decided to stick with Kevin Curran as the starting quarterback for Saturday. Curran’s play has been less than remarkable since his spectacular second half against Tennessee. Neuheisel even toyed with the idea of replacing Curran with a freshman last Saturday after Arizona had put the game out of reach, but Chow talked him into staying with the junior college transfer.

Meanwhile, Carroll and No. 1 USC open Pac-10 play this Thursday night against Oregon State in Corvallis, a game that will be nationally televised on ESPN beginning at 6 p.m., West Coast time. The game was originally scheduled for last Saturday, but moved back five days for television. USC (2-0) has had two bye weeks in less than a month, its last game the dominating 35-3 victory over Ohio State on Sept. 13.

The Beavers, who were picked by Sports Illustrated as a Top 25 team in the preseason, are coming off a 45-7 victory against Hawaii after opening the season with losses against Stanford and Penn State.

Two notes on USC: Garrett Green, a wide receiver and defensive back for most of his career, has been moved up to second-string quarterback, behind Mark Sanchez. Green, who was a star quarterback in high school, replaces Aaron Corp, a true freshman who had beaten out Mitch Mustaine, a transfer from Arkansas. It appears either Carroll can’t decide who should be the No. 2 QB, or he is giving all a chance to get some playing time. And, a photo in Sports Illustrated last week clearly shows that linebacker Rey Maualuga was out of bounds on his interception return for a touchdown against Ohio State.