COLLEGE FOOTBALL DAILY REPORT : USC : Losing Record, Winning Office

Coach Kim Helton, whose 0-2 Houston team plays USC on Saturday at the Coliseum, is 2-21-1 since taking over the Cougars in 1993. Houston was 1-10 last year.

He joked this week about the size of his office in Houston’s new $29.1-million Athletics/Alumni Facility.

“It’s huge,” he said. “It looks like there should be a 10-1 coach in there, not a 1-10 guy.”

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USC freshman walk-on kicker Adam Rendon handled the last four kickoffs in the opener against San Jose State after No. 1 kicker Adam Abrams developed a sore quadriceps.

Coach John Robinson, describing Rendon when assistant coach Rod Marinelli told him he was kicking off: “He looked like he’d suddenly come down with some kind of nerve disease.

“And just before his first kickoff, he asked [assistant coach] Joe Barry, ‘Coach, when I go out there to kick off, do I take my own football or does the referee give me one?’ ”

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Robinson blamed the 111 penalty yards against San Jose State on opening-game jitters, adding: “In an even game, that might be enough to cost us the game.” . . . Houston lost to Florida, 45-21, and Louisiana Tech, 19-7. . . . Twelve running backs and receivers handled the ball in the opener. Keyshawn Johnson, with eight catches, led seven receivers, and Delon Washington led five running backs with 55 yards.