Rey Maualuga will lead the top-ranked Trojans against Ohio State Saturday.

Rey Maualuga will lead the top-ranked Trojans against Ohio State Saturday.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Rey Maualuga was all over the Rose Bowl field on New Year’s Day, sacking quarterback Juice Williams three times, making an interception and forcing a fumble to win the outstanding defensive player award in USC’s resounding 49-17 victory over Illinois.

He did all that carrying 273 pounds on his 6-foot-2 frame.

And he’s a linebacker.

“We must have fed him too much during bowl preparation,” Southern California coach Pete Carroll said with a smile this week after admitting he had didn’t realize the senior from Eureka weighed that much. “We keep telling him it’s not an eating circus around here.”

Maualuga no longer needs to be told. After reporting to training camp last month weighing 264 pounds, Maualuga proudly revealed the other day that he’s down to 247.

“I’ve got three percent body fat,” he said with a smile, drawing a shocked reaction before quickly adding he was kidding.

Maualuga said he didn’t decide to lose weight to get faster, but added: “You feel light, you feel much better. I feel awesome. I’m not as tired and my speed is up.”

And his reputation as a hard-hitter is unchanged.

“He’s much quicker to the punch,” USC tailback Stafon Johnson said. “Rey hits hard, period. You can’t measure it.”

And, Johnson added, Maualuga never takes a play off.

“His love for the game, his ambition to be so great every day makes him a great player,” Johnson said.

No question Maualuga would have taken early in the NFL draft last spring had he decided to turn pro, but along with several of his teammates, he decided to return for his senior year.

“I came back to better myself, try and help take this team as far as I can,” he said. “I’m pretty sure everyone came back for the same reason.”

Maualuga and No. 1 USC figure to find out a lot about themselves Saturday night when they entertain No. 5 Ohio State at the Los Angeles Coliseum in a matchup of college football’s most successful programs of his decade and one of the most highly anticipated regular-season games in years.

Maualuga broke his right ring finger five days before USC’s 52-7 season-opening romp at Virginia on Aug. 30, but said that won’t be a problem.

“This is a big game,” he said. “Broken leg, pulled hamstring, I’m playing, no matter what.”