Ah, memories.

This collection seeped into my consciousness when prompted by the discovery that the Oakland Raiders are playing at Houston on Sunday … and remembering I had covered an NFL game in Houston.

At the Astrodome. While covering the Los Angeles Rams. In 1978. A long, long time ago.

And I was pretty sure that the Rams and Oilers were just one aspect of a crazy busy, overly ambitious but productive trip that involved a USC road game the night before.

It was.

I covered the Rams for three seasons, while working at the San Bernardino Sun. Didn’t miss a game during the 1977, 1978 and 1979 seasons. All the home games … and all the road games, too.

What I did, back then, was wait for the Rams schedule to be posted, and then compare their road games to those being played by USC and UCLA, the two college teams we covered, as well.

If the Trojans or Bruins were playing anywhere near where the Rams were playing the next day, I would see if I could get a plane to move me from the the college city to the NFL city in time for a 1 p.m. (local time) kickoff.

And then I would sell it to the sports editor as a way of saving money.

The first pair of games I saw on the schedule were pretty juicy. USC at Alabama on September 23, the Rams at Houston at 1 p.m. the next day.

(I would do another doubleheader later that season — USC at Arizona State on Saturday night, Rams at Minnesota Sunday afternoon.)

It was possible, just, to do it. And even tack on one more selling point.

An interview with Paul “Bear” Bryant, Alabama’s coach.

So, on the ground in Birmingham, where the game would be played. A rental car to drive over to Tuscaloosa, the home of the University of Alabama, along with a colleague from a competing newspaper, Michele Himmelberg, for the Bryant interview. I’m going to say it was a Thursday because it seems unlikely Bear Bryant, whose team was ranked No. 1 to USC’s No. 7,  would talk to reporters from SoCal the day before a game.

Bryant had an enormous office, as one would expect of a guy who was in his 32nd season at Alabama, and the floor was one enormous hunk of deep-pile Crimson Tide-red carpet.

We walked in and there was Bear Bryant, 65, winner of four national titles and already a legend, sitting behind the biggest desk in Christendom.

We two reporters were given a nice chunk of time, and Bear answered all our questions in that deep, rumble of a voice, and why he agreed to talk to us (Michelle was even younger than I was) I no longer recall, but perhaps a public relations officer thought it would be good for two reporters from the Los Angeles market to have a chance to form a positive impression of the man … and we did.

On Saturday, John Robinson’s Trojans pretty much handled Bear’s team, 24-14, no surprise in retrospect considering USC had Charles White, Marcus Allen, Ron Lott, Anthony Munoz and Brad Budde playing for them.

It was a night game, and I filed a game story and a sidebar, and then the logistics side kicked back in. I already had checked out of the hotel and was carrying a bag as well as a Teleram (a 35-pound device for filing stories via phone lines).

I got a cab to the Birmingham airport, which was open but nearly deserted, and I went in and sat down in a waiting area because no planes were going out for several hours.

I may have napped briefly, but I don’t think so, because I remember being uncomfortable and conscious of cleaners moving around me. Buffing the floor, etc.

Eventually, things stirred to life, and I got a plane to Atlanta. Which is the opposite direction of where I needed to go, to Houston, but I couldn’t get to Houston from Birmingham in time to see the Rams kick off.

I changed planes in Atlanta, flew back over Alabama to Houston, maybe slept an hour, got a cab for the long ride into town and was getting a little punch by the time I hit the sidewalk at the Astrodome, the first of the domed stadiums as well as the first to use artificial turf. It was impressive. (It still stands,unused, next to the NRG Stadium.)

On my way to the media entrance I recall seeing Isiah Robertson, colorful and controversial Rams linebacker, signing autographs or posing with a little kid. He was doing something charming, anyway.

The Rams were good again that year, on their way to a 12-4 record, and they seized a 10-0 lead in the second quarter and then just sat on it, trying to kill the clock.

It ended 10-6, but the player of the game was one of the Oilers, the rookie running back Earl Campbell, 5-foot-11, 245 pounds, who was one of the biggest “loads” in NFL history.

The Rams defense was studded with elite veterans, including Jack Youngblood, Jack “Hacksaw” Reynolds, Fred Dryer, Larry Brooks, Jij Youngblood and Pat Thomas … and all they talked about after the game was what a nightmare Earl Campbell was to tackle. I never heard a defense, before or since, so impressed with someone they had just beaten. (Campbell was rookie of the year and went to the Hall of Fame.)

On one memorable play, Campbell ran directly at Isiah Robertson, leaving the latter on his back after an enormous collision, then ran over safety Bill Simpson, leaving him with a concussion.

And, after filing, back to LAX late on Sunday, more than a little bit groggy, but I was 25 and immortal and made it home safely.

So, yes, one long interview with a coaching legend, a big USC victory at Alabama (the teams shared the national title that year), a sleepless night, the Rams surviving Earl Campbell …

It was an eventful, jam-packed road trip. And it took the Raiders playing in Houston tomorrow to bring back the memories of it.