Maybe the Beavers' best bet is remembering last year's game, when quarterback Sean Canfield injured his shoulder on a hit from Trojans safety Will Harris that officials ruled a personal foul.
"Actually I didn't see anything wrong,"
Harris said. "I guess my shoulder hit his shoulder. We didn't see it as a late hit."
Oregon State fans certainly did with one listing it a "cheapshot"
on YouTube. This sure seems like ripe motivational material, especially since Canfield is only now coming back this week as the Beavers' backup.
But Harris said he spoke to the Oregon State coaches and made sure they knew it was not a late hit.
"I let it be known it wasn't intentional,"
Harris said. "I talked to the Oregon State coaches about it."
OK, we tried. It looks like the Beavers could be in big trouble, barring a massive fog bank such as four years ago, when the national championship Trojans hung on for a 28-20 win.
OSU (1-2, 0-1) certainly does not want to remind USC of two years ago, when the Beavers upset the third-ranked Trojans, 33-31, in Corvallis. That game was referenced enough by USC coach Pete Carroll during team meetings this week.
However, Carroll got a little frustrated when asked about the contest, worried that Reser Stadium developed some sort of mystical quality that makes tonight's game more difficult than usual.
"It wasn't the air, it wasn't the atmosphere, the trees, the air,"
Carroll said. "We fumbled the ball. That's what happened. It had nothing to do with anything else."
"Sometimes stuff happens, sometimes it doesn't. Another game we lost, we threw four interceptions in the second half."
That last reference was to last year's massive loss to Stanford, but no one is predicting that with Oregon State under .500 following losses to the Cardinal and Penn State, which was particularly ugly (45-14).
The Beavers did defeat lowly Hawaii, 45-7.
"Pac-10 games have always been challenging and difficult,"
Carroll said. "It doesn't matter which week or who you are playing or where you're playing, they're just hard, difficult challenges."
But not so difficult a challenge that Carroll didn't agree to tweak the schedule so it could be nationally televised on ESPN. He did it after enjoying last year's Thanksgiving blowout of Arizona State, which gives him more time to prepare for Oregon on Oct. 4.
Especially with a road opener, something that traditionally gives USC problems.
"You think the conference looks like it's down,"
he said. "I don't want to go along with that thought, OK?"
"I don't think the conference is down at this point. There was a weekend when a lot of teams got beat. We'll see what happens as the season goes on."
It should probably be noted that Carroll might need the conference to improve, because a debate started this week on whether USC could lose out if teams like Oklahoma, Georgia or Florida also go undefeated in superior conferences.
Carroll never looks that far ahead, however, and the Trojans probably cannot afford a loss unless the Pac-10 shapes up.
"We get everybody's best shot,"
Carroll said. "We're going to give them our best shot. Stuff happens, you know. It just happens."
