The USC and Oregon State coaching staffs will wear logo patches at tonight’s football game at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to promote Coach to Cure MD, an effort to raise awareness and funding for Duchenne muscular dystrophy research.
About 10,000 college football coaches with more than 500 teams, including more than 110 at the Football Bowl Subdivision level, will participate in Coach to Cure MD events this week, according to organizers.
This is the seventh year of Coach to Cure MD, a partnership between the American Football Coaches Association and Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy.
The program has raised more than $1 million since 2008 for Duchenne muscular dystrophy research.
Fans are encouraged to donate $5 by texting the word CURE to 90999 or by donating online at CoachtoCureMD.org.
Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a progressive muscle disorder that causes loss of muscle function and independence. It is the most common fatal childhood genetic disorder, affecting approximately 1 in every 3,500 live male births, according to Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy.
The disorder can be passed from parent to child, but about 35 percent of cases occur because of a random spontaneous mutation. Because the Duchenne gene is found on the X chromosome, it mainly affects boys. There is no cure and life expectancy is in the 20s.
Football fans have helped Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy make muscle research grants to several universities, including UCLA.
The program was proposed to the coaches association in 2008 by Brad Todd, a football fan whose sister Rachel has a son affected by Duchenne muscular dystrophy, suggesting they create something akin to college basketball’s Coaches vs. Cancer.
USC has designated the game as Joint Forces Day in honor of the U.S. military and first responders with a pregame presentation, an in-stadium feed from troops aboard and 10 Wounded Warriors be honored during the game.
The 16-member 2015 USC Athletic Hall of Fame class will be introduced at halftime, with former football stars Jack Del Rio and Tim Rossovich, former assistant football coach Dave Levy, former basketball star Harold Miner, former pitcher Mark Prior, Olympic track gold medalist Don Quarrie, former soccer star Isabelle Harvey, former volleyball star Bob Yoder and retired Daily News sports columnist Joe Jares expected to attend.
Camille Gear Rich, a professor of law and sociology in the USC Gould School of Law, will also be recognized. Her research and teaching interests include constitutional law, feminist legal theory, legal ethics, employment discrimination and children and the law.
Fans will be able to take pictures with the Heisman Trophy from 2-7:30 p.m. as part of the pregame fan fest in Exposition Park. Marcus Allen, the 1981 Heisman Trophy winner, will participate in a discussion with ESPN sportscaster Neil Everett and sign autographs from 5:30-6:30 p.m.
Sean Cody, an All-America defensive lineman in 2004, will participate in a discussion with Everett from 3-3:30 and sign autographs from 3:30-4:30 p.m.
ESPN’s Football Power Index gives the Trojans an 82.4 percent chance of winning. USC (2-1) has a 22-game winning streak over the Beavers (3-0) at the Coliseum. Oregon State’s last victory over the Trojans at the Coliseum was in 1960, John McKay’s first season as USC’s coach.
