Team at Least Traveler-Tested

Technically speaking, USC has not played on an opponent’s field this season until today, with the Kickoff Classic being held at Giants Stadium, a neutral site.

But with Penn State fans accounting for most of 78,902 in attendance at that game in East Rutherford, N.J., USC Coach Paul Hackett believes his team knows what it’s like to perform in front of a hostile crowd.

And he thinks that will help when the Trojans play Oregon State in Reser Stadium today.

“Now is the time I’m most glad we took the Penn State game,” Hackett said. “We’ve gone into a foreign stadium. . . . I think we know how to go and win on the road.”

Oregon State set a record by selling about 15,000 season tickets--or almost half the stadium--before this season. Coach Dennis Erickson is hoping the crowd will be a factor.

“We have to make this a miserable place to play,” he said. “When crowds are good is when [the other team] can’t hear, they can’t audibilize. That’s the home-field advantage.”

*

There seems to be a difference of opinion among USC players over last week’s four fumbles.

Carson Palmer, who lost the ball in the second quarter against San Jose State, believes the turnovers were an anomaly. “It’s not something that needs to be [talked about]. . . . We’re not worried,” he said.

Tailback Malaefou MacKenzie takes a more passionate attitude into today’s game.

“It’s like the coaches tell us, when you’re carrying that ball in your arms, it’s like you’re carrying the whole team,” he said. “It’s up to us to hold on.”

*

Another difference of opinion: the relative merits of artificial turf. Some players hate it, others don’t.

“I don’t think quarterbacks hate it that much,” Palmer said. “AstroTurf makes you faster and we’re a fast team so that should be a bonus for us.”

Defensive tackle Ennis Davis said the only turf that ever bothered him was the natural grass at Aloha Stadium when USC played Hawaii to start the 1999 season.

“It was too hot,” Davis said.

* Time: 3:30 p.m.

* Site: Reser Stadium in Corvallis, Ore.

* TV: Fox Sports Net 2.

* Radio: XTRA (690).

* When USC has the ball: There’s one thing the Trojans need to change on offense this week: Hold onto the ball. Dropped passes and fumbles cost them at least two--perhaps as many as four--touchdowns against San Jose State. Hackett still favors running the ball, but it is quarterback Carson Palmer who concerns Oregon State. “He’s got size and a great arm,” Coach Dennis Erickson said. “But probably the biggest thing that has impressed me is his athleticism and how he moves and moves out of the pocket to make things happen.” The Beavers rank third in the nation in total defense, surrendering only 198.7 yards a game, but racked up those numbers against the likes of Eastern Washington and winless San Diego State. Defensive end DeLawrence Grant will go after Palmer, looking to take pressure off cornerbacks Keith Heyward-Johnson and Dennis Weathersby.

* When Oregon State has the ball: Tailback Ken Simonton ranks fifth in the nation in rushing, but he is only one of the weapons that make the Beavers dangerous. Like San Jose State last week, Oregon State spreads the field, giving quarterback Jonathan Smith three or four receivers from which to choose. “This team is built on speed,” USC Coach Paul Hackett said. The Trojans will try to contain Simonton and hope their secondary learned some lessons after giving up large chunks of passing yardage in the first half of the San Jose State game. “We were kind of in a lull,” cornerback Kris Richard said. “We had our scare. . . . What we have to do is come out and play from the kickoff.”

* Key to the game: USC cannot afford to fall two touchdowns behind on the road, which means the Trojans cannot wait until the fourth quarter to turn on the intensity. They need a more consistent game on both sides of the ball, not to mention special teams, to defeat an Oregon State team that showed last season it can compete in the Pacific 10.

* Fast fact: USC has won slightly more than 80% of its Pacific 10 openers. The Trojans have done almost as well when starting conference play on the road, winning 19 of their last 23. They have won their last 11 games in Reser Stadium.

* Line: USC by 6 1/2.

HOW THEY COMPARE

USC and Oregon State

26.6 Scoring 28.0

14.3 Points allowed 14.0

233.3 Passing 131.0

185.3 Rushing 189.7

418.7 Total offense 320.7

207.7 Passing defense 141.7

84.3 Rushing defense 57.0

292.0 Total defense 198.7