Sports Briefs

STANFORD -- Stanford forward Brook Lopez regained his academic eligibility and can return to competition.

Coach Trent Johnson will have Lopez available for the first time for Wednesday night's home game with Santa Clara, the Cardinal's first action after a two-week break for final exams.

Lopez was ruled academically ineligible for the fall quarter on Oct. 5 and was limited to practice only. He missed nine games for the Cardinal (8-1).

Lopez and his fellow 7-foot twin, Robin, are sophomores who played key roles last season. Brook Lopez averaged 12.6 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.7 blocks in 25 minutes and earned Pac-10 All-Freshman team honors.

Dodgers sign backup C Gary Bennett

LOS ANGELES -- A few days after admitting he used human growth hormone, backup catcher Gary Bennett signed a free-agent contract Monday with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Bennett was among 85 players implicated last week in the Mitchell Report. He later told The Washington Post: "As far as the report is concerned to me, it's accurate."

The 35-year-old Bennett played 59 games for St. Louis last season, batting .252 with two home runs and 17 RBIs. The Dodgers will be his eighth major league team.

The Mitchell Report said Bennett bought two kits of HGH from former New York Mets clubhouse attendant Kirk Radomski in 2003. Bennett played for San Diego then, and told the Post he was trying to recover from a sprained right knee when he used HGH.

"Obviously, it was a stupid decision," Bennett told the newspaper. "It was a mistake. It was something that quite obviously, you regret now."

Bennett signed a one-year deal with the Dodgers, and will back up All-Star Russell Martin.

USC offers proposal in talks

with Coliseum Commission

LOS ANGELES -- The University of Southern California made a counterproposal to the Los Angeles Coliseum Commission on Monday amid negotiations to keep the Trojans football team in the stadium.

Southern California has played in the Coliseum since it opened in 1923, but after the current contract expired on Dec. 2, the school threatened to move to the Rose Bowl next season if a suitable new agreement could not be worked out.

The commission had presented USC with an offer Thursday. University vice president Todd Dickey claims the proposal contained no firm commitment to repair and restore the facility by a given time.

The school countered by asking for a timetable for improvements. The proposal also stipulated that if the commission fails to raise enough funds and bring the stadium up to date, the agreement then would give USC a master lease and allow the school to raise funds and make the improvements.

The Rose Bowl is the Bruins' home stadium, and UCLA would have to give its permission for USC to play there.