Leading up to Thursday’s game, USC football coach Lane Kiffin recalled how, at one point, he and Hawaii’s Norm Chow used to ride to work together from Manhattan Beach to Heritage Hall when they were on the Trojans’ coaching staff.

"We had a lot of fun times," Kiffin said on the Pac-12 Conference media call with all the enthusiasm of somebody recalling a dental procedure. "So it was really a good time."

Pity, then, Chow didn’t give his one-time underling a ride back to the Trojans’ hotel — the Ihilani — after USC’s 30-13 victory for old time’s sake, so they could have discussed play-calling.

Just like many of the head-shaking 34,495 on hand at Aloha Stadium did.

For example, they could have debated the merits of Kiffin’s dubious decision to have his players go for the end zone instead of taking a knee with a 23-5 lead and less than a minute remaining.

Chow could have inquired, why after all their "fun times" together, Kiffin hadn’t learned anything about the art of winning graciously and when to call it a night.

He could have asked why, after three and a half hours of bad offensive football on a humid night and the crowd hitting the exits, anybody would want to prolong the affair? After 11:45 p.m. on the West Coast and 2:45 a.m. on the East Coast, few but insomniacs and gamblers could have still been glued to their TV sets.

Surely it wouldn’t do anything for USC in the polls, where the Trojans had already been exposed by the stellar ‘Bows defense as o-v-e-r-r-a-t-e-d.

If it was supposed to, it likely backfired since the Rainbow Warriors, using the remaining time, ended up answering USC’s score with one of their own on a 60-yard touchdown pass from Taylor Graham to Keith Kirkwood with 30 seconds remaining as gamblers gasped.

Was that little wrinkle, perhaps, aimed at Chow? Or was it was just Lane being, well, Lane again?

Not that Kiffin might not have had a question — or two — for his former mentor, too.

Such as what-in-the-name of conservatism was Chow doing running his ballcarrier into the line late in the first half with halftime looming when the Trojans front seven was stuffing the play with regularity?

The torrent of boos that ploy elicited from the crowd was not lost on the USC bench. Undoubtedly it brought back Sun Bowl and UCLA memories for Kiffin. And neither of them should relish reminders of 2012.

For two guys who, at one time, both wanted to call the plays in their heydays at Southern California under Pete Carroll, there was so much they could have talked about from Thursday night’s game. There was so much in terms of lessons learned to be applied.

But, then, heading into the second week of their seasons, if this game was any indication, they probably had more immediate and pressing issues to attend to.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.