USC hires Helton as permanent coachSouthern California hired Clay Helton as its permanent coach, removing the interim tag after he guided the team to a division title since taking over for Steve Sarkisian.Athletic director Pat Haden announced Helton had signed a multiyear deal.The 43-year-old Helton has been an assistant with USC since 2010, working under both Lane Kiffin and Sarkisian.He was offensive coordinator when Sarkisian was fired on Oct. 12. Sarkisian admitted he was struggling with alcohol after he went on an obscenity-laced rant at a booster function before the season and the coach and team continued to struggle for the first five games.The Trojans have gone 5-2 since Helton took over and beat UCLA on Saturday to clinch the Pac-12 South and a spot in the conference championship game. The Trojans (8-4) will face Stanford on Saturday.

No bowl bonuses for Nebraska coachesLINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska will play in a bowl with a 5-7 record if invited to one, but coach Mike Riley and his assistants won’t receive bowl bonuses.Senior associate athletic director David Witty confirmed that athletic director Shawn Eichorst met with Riley and decided not to pay bowl bonuses outlined in the coaches’ contracts. The Omaha World-Herald first reported the decision.Riley’s contract calls for him to be paid a $150,000 bonus if in a bowl outside the College Football Playoff. Including assistants, Nebraska would have paid $435,000 in bonuses.Nebraska is first in line among 5-7 teams to fill bowl slots once all teams 6-6 and better have been selected. Witty said contract wording might be tweaked in the future to cover going to a bowl with a losing record.

Tigers, Zimmerman finalize contractDETROIT — Free agent pitcher Jordan Zimmermann has finalized a $110 million, five-year contract with the Detroit Tigers.Zimmermann gets $18 million in each of the next two seasons, $24 million in 2018 and $25 million in each of the final two years. As part of the agreement, he has a full-no trade provision through 2018, then can be dealt to 10 teams without his permission during 2019-20.The 29-year-old right-hander went 13-10 with a 3.66 ERA last season for Washington.

3 Kenyan officials suspended by IAAFLONDON — Three senior Kenyan track and field federation officials were suspended by the IAAF over accusations they subverted the east African nation’s anti-doping system and siphoned money from Nike.Athletics Kenya President Isaiah Kiplagat, suspended for 180 days by the IAAF ethics commission, has also been told there is a case against him over an “apparent gift” of two cars from the Qatar Athletics Federation.