Lenn Robbins
ROBBINS' NEST
HARTFORD, Conn. — Los Angeles is a town where a lot of talking is done yet often nothing is said. So it was surprising to hear UCLA football coach Jim Mora deliver as dead-on an assessment of the importance of the annual crosstown game with USC as any coach has ever said about a rivalry.
"It's a big-ass game,'' Mora said.
Cue Sir Mix-A-Lot — the Bruins and Trojans got back.
You never heard Bo Schembechler say that about Ohio State or Woody Hayes say it about Michigan. Don't recall Bud Wilkinson saying that about Nebraska or Tom Osborne saying it about Oklahoma.
UCLA-USC had lost a lot of luster because the Bruins kept losing to the Trojans. Losing big, too. The 2011 regular season ended with a 50-0 beatdown.
But last season, Mora's first in Westwood, UCLA beat USC for the first time since 2006. The Trojans, one of the premier programs in college football over the last decade, hadn't cast a shadow over UCLA — it was an eclipse.
So last year's 38-24 UCLA win has set the stage for a tantalizing story line in college football:
Can UCLA supplant USC as the Kings of L.A., a city with two big-time college football programs and no NFL franchise?
"What have you done for me lately?'' said USC coach Lane Kiffin when asked about a possible power shift. "That's sports nowadays and that's L.A. for sure.
"We've just seen that in other sports in L.A. I think I read one day that the Clippers coach [Vinny Del Negro] had the best record in the history of the franchise, and he's no longer there. And the other team [Lakers], the coach [Mike Brown] was there for about seven games or something.
"So welcome to L.A. At one point, a month ago they wanted to fire [Don] Mattingly. Things change fast. That was 12 months removed from a 50-0 win but nobody remembers at that point.''
At this point, the only rivalries of import in college football — aside from Army-Navy, the best rivalry in college football and will be forever — are in the SEC, which has won seven straight BCS titles.
Oklahoma-Texas is old, featuring two very respectable coaches whose programs have lost their edge. Notre Dame-USC has had some moments but the two haven't recently played when both are highly ranked and intact. Michigan-Ohio State is lopsided, with the Buckeyes winning 10 of the last 12.
Having a live rivalry in the second-biggest media market in the nation is welcome, even needed. The battle for L.A. could be sexy and testy.
Suddenly UCLA has the more highly touted quarterback in Brett Hundley and the NFL defensive stud in linebacker Anthony Barr.
The Trojans still are dealing with sanctions and UCLA is committed to building a new football-only facility.
Certainly, new life has been breathed into the rivalry.
"Bragging rights,'' Mora said. "And I hate to use that word, 'Bragging.' But the ability to go to work, and there's a Trojan sitting in the next cubicle and say, 'We got you this time...' ''
"I like Jim,'' Kiffin said. "So we spotted him 24 points last year. Welcome to L.A.''
Welcome, indeed. It's going to take a few more UCLA wins before the nation catches on. But no city offers two big-time programs with the potential of Los Angeles.
"If UCLA could get the support, if they would finance the expectations that USC finances, I think you'd have two monster programs,'' former UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel said.
Cue Sir Mix-A-Lot.
lenn.robbins@nypost.com
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