LOS ANGELES — Say what you want about the talents of Zac Taylor and John David Booty, neither could match the completion percentage of Nebraska sophomore punter Dan Titchener on Saturday night.

Titchener was 1-for-1 with his 28-yard fake-punt completion to Todd Peterson in the first quarter. He even threw in a little bobble on the snap as part of the play.

A brilliant trick to throw off the Trojans.

“No. I hope it looked like it was,” he said. “It actually wasn’t.”

Titchener admitted to feeling some nerves when the play was called.

“We’d worked on it all week,” he said. “It was put in specifically for the look they gave us on that play. Coach had told us we were going to run it at some point during the game. I didn’t know when it would be.

“He called it early. I was really shocked by that. He called it. I got a little nervous, but I got control of it and threw it out there.”

SECONDARY TALK: You can’t really say USC picked on Andre Jones on Saturday because the Trojans had success against everyone in the NU secondary.

Jones declined interview requests Saturday, but strong safety Tierre Green backed his teammate, who started a buzz last week by declaring NU a winner over USC before the game was played.

“He played pretty well,” Green said. “There were some plays that a lot of us made mistakes on.”

Green said Jones’ teammates gave him more trouble than anyone on the outside.

“We gave him a harder time than they did anyway,” he said. “It really wasn’t that big of a deal.

“Coach definitely didn’t want us making any comments like that, but it happened, and he’s your teammate, so you’re going to back him up.”

HISTORY LESSON: The USC media guide lists 15 games that shaped Trojan football history. Among them, oddly, is the 1925 Nebraska-Notre Dame game in Lincoln.

It seems Southern California was looking for a big-time national rival (Nebraska, apparently, didn’t cut it), so the Trojans sent a representative to Lincoln to talk to Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne about their proposal to start a series with the Irish.

Rockne, the story goes, didn’t like the idea of traveling all the way from Indiana to California for games, but he was eventually convinced that it would be more fun visiting the warmer climate of the West Coast in November than playing the Cornhuskers in the cold and “hostile” environment of Lincoln.

After losing to NU 17-0, Notre Dame said so long to the Huskers and started what has turned out to be one of the classic series in college football.

END ZONE:  I have to admit I felt like I was in a little over my bank account when I strolled into the Louis Vuitton store at Gateway’s rich cousin — Westfield Century City. But I thought, “What the heck, I’ve got an extra $20, let’s get nuts.”

The kind young lady who assisted me told me that the store was popular with Jessica Simpson. She also told me I could actually make a purchase with my 20 bucks. Anyone need refill pages for their Vuitton planner?

* Almost saw a no-hitter by Greg Maddux on Friday at Dodger Stadium. What a beautiful old ballpark. However, I will gladly take a Fairbury Brand over a Dodger Dog, which I now must label as the most overrated baseball concession item in all of sports.

* Overheard from a USC fan on campus Saturday: “Better get to Heritage Hall to see the Heismans before they take one away.” Yes, the Reggie Bush story is getting lots of play here this weekend. Apparently it wasn’t much of a distraction for the Trojans.

* Can’t explain why, but after seeing a white Ford Bronco near our hotel, I was reminded that Al Cowlings was a defensive tackle for USC when the Trojans won in Lincoln in 1969.

* Former Irish head coach Bob Davie was hanging out in the stands near the press box before the ABC telecast. We visited briefly, and he confirmed that he has never had cable installed in Lincoln, as rumored during the Frank Solich era. It’s not the Black Dahlia, but I’m happy to clear up that case for you.

Reach John Mabry at 473-7320 or jmabry@journalstar.com.