McCloskey, London Stay on the Sidelines

No. 11 UCLA returned to practice Monday without senior center Mike McCloskey and senior middle linebacker Justin London, who both have been sidelined since late last month because of injuries.

Coach Karl Dorrell said McCloskey, out since suffering a shoulder injury against Oregon State on Oct. 22, may miss the Bruins’ final regular-season game against USC on Dec. 3.

“I would say that the likelihood of him playing is not likely,” Dorrell said. “He’s trying to [get ready to play] but he doesn’t have a lot of strength gain in his shoulder.... I’m not ruling him out but it doesn’t look likely.”

Junior Robert Chai will get his fourth consecutive start if McCloskey is unable to play.

It may be a different story for London, who has struggled with an ankle injury he aggravated at Washington State on Oct. 15. Dorrell said he hoped to have London on the field against the Trojans.

“Justin is doing a lot of his treatment inside,” Dorrell added. “We’re going to see how much he can do on Monday when he comes back from break. That’s the plan that the doctors wanted him to do; stay off it for at least two weeks.”

London is fifth on the team with 38 tackles, including five stops for losses. He has played in eight games, sitting out the last two against Arizona and Arizona State.

Freshman John Hale, who has started in place of London in three of the last four games, worked with the first team on Monday.

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The last time UCLA had nine victories before playing USC was 1998 and the Bruins won, 34-17, to clinch the Pacific 10 title. This year, UCLA is 9-1 and a victory over the 11-0 Trojans would create a three-way tie for first with Oregon and USC.

“We’re anxious to play,” said Dorrell about the Bruins, who will practice today and then take the rest of the week off for Thanksgiving break. “It’s for the city championship, the conference championship and with BCS implications. There are a lot of things to play for. It’s a good position to be in.”