Charlie Landrigan Class: Senior Hometown: Mission Viejo High School: Capistrano Valley Height / Weight: 5-11 / 235 Position: Fullback Birthdate: 10/24/1978 Experience: 1V

(28) CHARLIE LANDRIGAN--Fullback, 5-11, 235, Sr.*/Sr.

2001: The rugged Landrigan, an outstanding blocker and receiver, started for his third season at fullback as a senior in 2001. A team captain, he made the 2001 All-Pac-10 honorable mention squad. Overall in 2001 while starting all 12 games, he caught 30 passes (third on USC) for 353 yards (11.8 avg.) with 2 TDs, ran for 12 yards on 8 carries (1.5 avg.) and made 4 tackles. He missed part of 2001 spring drills with a lacerated knee. He won USC's Co-Most Inspirational Player of the Year Award. He was invited to play in the Paradise Bowl.

He caught a then-career-best 4 passes for 45 yards in the San Jose State opener, then grabbed 5 passes for 58 yards, both career highs, against Kansas State. He caught a pair of passes for 24 yards at Oregon, added 3 catches for 77 yards (with a career-best 63-yarder) and a 4-yard rush versus Stanford, then caught a 21-yard TD pass (the first score of his career) at Washington. Against Arizona State, Landrigan caught a TD pass (20 yards on his only reception) for the second week in a row and ran for 7 yards on 2 tries. He grabbed a game-best 6 passes for 46 yards at Notre Dame, then had 3 grabs for 24 yards at Arizona, 2 catches for 16 yards versus Oregon State and 2 more receptions for 10 yards at California. He had a 2-yard catch and a tackle against Utah.

2000: Landrigan started at fullback as a junior in 2000 and did a solid job, particularly as a blocker. He started 11 games (all but Arizona State). Overall in 2000 while appearing in all 12 games, he ran for 34 yards on 8 carries (4.2 avg.) and caught 8 passes for 47 yards (5.9 avg.). He also made 1 tackle (versus Penn State). He had 10 yards on 2 rushes and caught 2 passes for 9 yards against Washington State, then had 7 rushing yards on 2 carries and 21 receiving yards on 3 catches at UCLA. He caught an 11-yard pass against Colorado. He received USC's Bob Chandler Award (top underclassman athlete/student/leader).

1999: Landrigan proved to be a pleasant surprise, as he started at fullback for USC's last 9 games of 1999 (all but the Hawaii, San Diego State and Oregon contests) as a sophomore. He was Brennan Ochs' backup in the other games. He also played on special teams. Overall in 1999 while appearing in 11 contests (he did not play against San Diego State), he did not carry the ball, but caught 11 passes for 64 yards (5.8 avg.). He caught 3 passes against both Oregon State (23 yards) and Notre Dame (27 yards).

1998: Landrigan was a reserve fullback as a redshirt freshman in 1998, but did not see any action.

1997: Landrigan redshirted as a freshman fullback in 1997, his first year at USC.

HIGH SCHOOL: He was a 1996 All-CIF Southern Section first team, All-CIF Division I, Los Angeles Times All-Orange County first team, Orange County Register All-Orange County first team and All-South Coast League Defensive MVP as a senior at Capistrano Valley High in Mission Viejo (Calif.). In 1996, he made 124 tackles (including 10 for losses, with 4 sacks), 2 fumble recoveries, 1 forced fumble and 3 pass deflections. Capistrano Valley head coach Dave Brown was a 3-year (1970-72) letterman center at USC and played on Troy's 1972 national championship team. Current Trojan Malaefou MacKenzie also prepped at Capistrano Valley.

PERSONAL: He's a political science major at USC. He was born in Ottumwa, Ia., and grew up in Austin, Minn. (he moved to California during his junior high years). His father played quarterback at a small college in North Dakota. He likes to play golf. As part of the "Read Across America" program, he read books to local elementary school classes in 2001.

CHARLIE LANDRIGAN ON: Playing fullback: "In order to be a good fullback, you have to commit yourself to blocking. You have to come out with your chinstrap buckled tight or you'll get blown up…Fullback is a lot like linebacker, which I played in high school, in that there are a lot of collisions going on. The fullback is the linebacker of the offense. It's been a while since I've played linebacker, but I've always had that defensive mentality…I'm not known for my running ability. A lot of fullbacks try to be tailbacks out there. But you must realize you are a blocker first…If there is one thing you could say I excel at, it is blocking. I understand my role here. I don't consider myself to be a 'tough' player, although some have described me as being tough. At my size, I'm am able to use leverage on my blocks against bigger opponents. I have a good sense for football. I've played a lot of years and I play with my eyes. I see what is going on…I'm not intimidated by a linebacker. I went against (former Trojans) Zeke Moreno and Chris Claiborne in practice, so I'm not going in there thinking that a linebacker is going to blow me up."

His political aspirations: "I try to keep up with the political scene, but it is difficult during football season. I do read the paper every morning and, down the line, I may run for political office…My grandfather was the County Commissioner in Pembina County, North Dakota, which is in the Red River Valley in the northwest corner of the state. I remember going to his house and seeing the Republican elephant everywhere. Someday, I might run for office myself…I definitely would like to be a Senator and, who knows, maybe even President…I really admire Ronald Reagan. I even have a picture of him in my room at home. And I read a book on Richard Nixon last year…I lean a little bit to the right politically…I love Washington D.C. We took a family vacation there when I was in the eighth grade and I would love to go back there someday…I ran for a lot of things in high school. I was my class president. Then I ran for school president my senior year and lost out to my ex-girlfriend. I had actually run just to spite here, but things didn't work out!"

His personality: "I'm really a pretty boring person. I'm pretty basic."

His favorite music: "I'm a big fan of Frank Sinatra's music. My mother always used to play him and I'd try to switch the channel to some modern music. Before I knew it, I started to really like it. My favorite song is 'Summer Wind.' When I'm in a personal mood, I'll listen to it. The ballads he sings are fun to sing along with."

Basketball: "I always wanted to play basketball for the Iowa Hawkeyes, which was my team growing up. But by my freshman year of high school, I realized that I wasn't that good of a basketball player and that football was my future."

WHAT OTHERS SAY: Former USC offensive tackle Brent McCaffrey: "Charlie is one of the better players on the offensive unit. He definitely sets the tone from the start of the game. He goes in there and, bam, he hits a defensive end and that guy's head snaps back. By the end of the game, you see guys with their heads on a swivel looking for No. 28. They don't want to take him on. Or, if they do, they're more careful with him. Every time we go out there, somehow, some way, Charlie finds his way onto the team highlight film and it's always for a devastating block."

Former USC linebacker Zeke Moreno: "He's unique. He's not one of those 250-pound fullbacks. But he's a hammer. You're either a hammer or a nail in this game and he's putting the pain on someone else."

GAME-BY-GAME WITH CHARLIE LANDRIGAN

2001

2000

1999