Call them the Paper Bruins. For now.

They sure look good there. With 10 starters returning on both sides of the ball and a landmark victory last December to build upon, the UCLA football team may be on the cusp of shaking off its hibernation and returning to national prominence.

"It's a great place to be on paper," admitted coach Karl Dorrell. "We know that it's just not what's on paper that wins (it's) performing at a consistent high level."

That's not something UCLA was expected to do a year ago, when Dorrell's optimism at the Pacific-10 Conference's annual media day was met with the blank stares of dumbfounded reporters. One year later, the room was nodding along with Dorrell as he explained the team's "great expectations" included being "a strong factor in the conference race."

UCLA, deemed the conference's second favorite behind USC, has started No. 14 in The Associated Press poll, its highest preseason ranking since 1998, and No. 17 in the coaches' poll. In its preseason preview, the Sporting News placed the Bruins No. 10, which would give Los Angeles two of the Top 10 teams in the country.

"That's what we expect of ourselves," said quarterback Ben Olson, a Thousand Oaks High product. "We have a lot of experience now. We have the players we believe can do some big things.

"The expectations are big this year, which is new as far as the outside looking in."

Chalk up that change to the aftershocks of a single, monumental statement game. UCLA rebuilt much of its national credibility in December when, behind an outstanding defensive performance masterminded by coordinator DeWayne Walker, it shocked USC, 13-9, in the teams' regular-season finale. The loss cost the archrival Trojans a berth in the Bowl Championship Series title game.

"It was a great win for us," said defensive end Bruce Davis. "It did a lot for our program because it was something that we hadn't done in seven years."

Truth is, that moment, captured live on national television, was the conclusion of a two-year process. Through the first five seasons of this decade, UCLA was a combined 19-21 in the Pac-10. It's improved to 11-6 in conference play over the past two seasons, when it also won 11 of 12 games overall at home in the Rose Bowl, which has been improved by a $16 million offseason revamp.

Those figures might be even better had Olson not been felled by a low and late blow by an Arizona defender in October. UCLA, 4-1 when the Thousand Oaks product was diagnosed with torn knee ligaments, lost backup Patrick Cowan's first four starts and needed to scramble to win its last three games to qualify for a bowl.

Olson has regained the starter's reins with a strong performance in spring practice. Cowan's recent torn hamstring has reinforced his position and left the coaches scrambling for a backup among walk-on McLeod Bethel-Thompson, true freshman Chris Forcier and Osaar Rasshan, who moved to receiver in the offseason after two years of backup duty.

"Quarterback play is really important," said Dorrell. "We're going to really emphasize for that guy to handle a lot of information."

UCLA is also thin behind tailbacks Chris Markey and Kahil Bell, as safety Christian Ramirez was shifted there last week.

Markey, held to a combined 52 yards rushing in losses to Notre Dame and Washington State, may have felt the effects of a foot stress fracture last year. He only rushed for two touchdowns the entire season. But he still managed to gain 1,107 yards and become the first UCLA player to lead the team in rushing yardage and receptions (35) since Kermit Alexander in 1962.

New offensive coordinator Jay Norville, a West Coast offense disciple formerly of the Raiders and Colts, is expected to kickstart the offense like Walker has the defense.

"He and I speak the same language," said Dorrell.

Improved offensive production will also come with improved play from a receiving corps led by seniors Brandon Breazell and Marcus Everett, who led UCLA receivers with 31 receptions a year ago. They are boosted by senior Joe Cowan's recovery from injury and tight end Logan Paulsen's development.

"We've got a lot of really talented receivers," said Olson. "We're expecting to make a lot of good things happen."

The strength of the team comes up front, which features four names on the Lombardi Award preseason watch list. The offensive line features a core of senior starters, center Chris Joseph, right guard Shannon Tevaga and left guard Noah Sutherland. The defensive front consists entirely of seniors, ends Davis and Nikola Dragovic outside tackles Kevin Brown and Brigham Harwell.

In fact, weakside linebacker Reggie Carter, a sophomore, is the only projected defensive starter who is not a senior.

"We fit together well," said Davis, the nation's top returning pass rusher at 12 sacks. "We know each other well. We're just more mature. We know what it takes to win games. There's nothing in college football that we haven't seen."

With its toughest opponents — Notre Dame, Cal, Arizona State, Oregon — visiting the Rose Bowl, UCLA fans can hold on to the sliver of hope that their Bruins can open up 11-0 entering their Dec. 1 trip across town to the Coliseum. And wouldn't that be interesting?

"We know that we can play with anyone now," said Davis. "But that doesn't mean we've gotten arrogant. Our mindset is that we're going to outwork the opposition. We don't have to be the best team in the country, just the best team in every game we play."