He's from the 1970s. He's got bell-bottoms and an afro and he likes old reruns of Starsky and Hutch.

He's definitely from the 1970s -- he still thinks USC is Tailback U.

There is nobody more retro right now than Justin Fargas. He is so old school, he once took handoffs at Michigan from Tom Brady. Yes, that Tom Brady. He is so old school, he thinks his new team, USC, should run first, pass second. He is so old school, he called O.J. Simpson over the summer and asked if he could wear his number.

	Once a standout at Michigan, Fargas is now walking in O.J.'s shadow.

He's been college eligible for five years, though it seems like 30. Justin Fargas went to Michigan in '98 as a high school phenom, and now has to cram an entire career into one lonely season. He is older than his teammates, wiser than his teammates and has had more screws in his leg than his teammates. Back in November of 1998, he suffered a gruesome broken leg against Wisconsin that had doctors pondering amputation.

"They told me it looked like I'd been in a motorcycle wreck,'' he says. But two titanium rods, 12 screws, two metal plates, four operations and four years later, he's finally back in an I-formation. When USC opens Pac-10 Conference play against undefeated Oregon State on Saturday, Fargas could very well be the difference in the game. Michigan had turned him into a safety -- which is one reason he transferred -- but USC plans on turning him into ... No. 32?

Not too many people idolize O.J. Simpson anymore, but Fargas has seen the '67 UCLA game on tape. And he's had dinner with O.J.

You have to understand who Justin Fargas's father is. He is Antonio Fargas, who played police informant "Huggy Bear'' on that '70s show, Starsky and Hutch. Antonio was also in the movie I'm Gonna Git You Sucka -- with live goldfish in his shoes -- and he got to know Simpson when O.J. was trying to be an actor. Used to have him over to eat.

So, that's how Justin met O.J. -- over a glass of O.J. at the house.

"Well, my freshman year in high school, I got the number 32, and I thought I was 'The Juice,' you know,'' Justin says. "So when I got a chance to meet him and talk football, I mean, that was special.''

Of course, it wasn't so special when O.J. got arrested for you-know-what and went on trial for you-know-what, but Justin didn't admire O.J.'s football ability any less.

And that's why, when he decided he was transferring to USC, Justin called O.J. up.

"Can I wear 32?''

"As long as you put it in the end zone.''

He took it even further -- he started growing O.J.'s afro.

"Yeah, I looked at some of the old pictures, and I'd seen that most of the great ones had the 'fro,'' Justin says. "O.J., Charles White. So I figured I could grow it out and it would be 'fro'd for the season.''

The problem was, he had to ask his coach, Pete Carroll, for permission to wear O.J.'s number, and Carroll's response was, "Can't you wear Marcus Allen's instead?''

Rather than press the issue, he settled for No. 25 (temporarily).

"Man, I wanted 32,'' he says. "I wanted 32 so bad. I mean, I we've gone back to the old school jerseys with the one stripe this year, and, man, I wish I could wear that 32 again. I mean, that was the first number I ever wore and to wear it at SC and where the Juice wore it ... Like, man, I want to wear it. And he said I could wear it, but I don't know if it's going to happen. So I figure I've got to make my own number, and 25 was open, and I was born on the 25th of January, and maybe I can run for 2,500 yards or 25 touchdowns, 25 carries a game.

"But, I mean, if I could just wear 32 for one game. I think it might make something special happen. But ah, we'll see.''

Something special may already be happening. Fargas didn't start the first two games because of a hamstring tweak, but USC won both (against Auburn and Colorado), and they actually ran the football.

This is a team that gained only one yard rushing in its bowl game last season, but, at Colorado, the quartet of Malaefou MacKenzie, Sultan McCullough, Darryl Poston and Hershel Dennis rushed for a combined 181 yards in the 40-3 victory. Kansas State shut them all down last week in Manhattan, but that doesn't mean SC will abandon the run against Oregon State. Fargas had a 28 yard burst against K-State that got brought back by a penalty, but trust me when I say he's desperate to be a factor this week.

At Colorado, he wasn't supposed to play, but he conned the running back coach into letting him on the field. After he carried up the gut for four yards, a livid Carroll waved him off and hid his helmet. It was a street-wise move on Justin's part, but it only goes to show that he's still Huggy Bear's son.

Huggy Bear was slick, and now so is Justin. He'll sneak into his father's closet and wear Huggy Bear's old bell-bottoms. He keeps a hair pick in his back pocket. And before every USC practice, he stops by a photograph of O.J. and touches it.

He wants this to be Tailback U II.

"Tailback U. means we're gonna run the ball, and we're gonna run the ball, and we're gonna run the ball, and we're gonna run the ball, and run the ball, run the ball, run the ball,'' Justin Fargas says. "And then run it some more.''

Sounds just like that '70s show.

Tom Friend is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at tom.friend@espnmag.com.