USC President C. L. Max Nikias was 1,400 miles from the Los Angeles campus, but he knew just how to appeal to his audience. In a swanky hotel ballroom, he told the crowd of alumni and donors that Texas had become the largest feeder of students to USC after California, and that students from their state scored significantly higher on the SAT than the average of all applicants. Then he introduced Texas' first lady, Cecilia Abbott, whose daughter will attend USC in the fall. That, he joked, could cause conflicts for the governor's family during football games. The three-day, three-city Trojan spr