Trojans don't horse around against UW

Considering who they are, considering they've won 29 games in a row and 40 of their last 41 games, you would have thought the USC Trojans would have snickered at this molehill on their schedule.

After all, the previous game at Notre Dame is an instant ESPN classic. And yesterday's opponent, Washington, has won only two of its last 18 games and hasn't won a conference game since November 2003.

You would think USC not only expected a letdown, they encouraged one. They almost needed a breather after their breathtaking 34-31 win over the Irish.

But there are no letdowns in Troy.

The Trojans considered Washington a statement game. Not in the traditional sense. Not a statement to Washington, or to the Pac-10, or to the BCS. This was a statement the Trojans needed to make to themselves.

They needed this week to clean up the annoying mistakes that nagged them at Oregon, at Arizona, at Notre Dame. They needed to rediscover their offensive rhythm. They needed this 51-24 reminder that the basics still work.

The three-step drop. The quick throws. The simply executed run blocks. Every play doesn't have to be a home run. Every play doesn't have to be a highlight.

"This game was very important to us," USC coach Pete Carroll said. "We needed to show everybody that we could play better than we did last week. People were wondering if we would have a letdown, but we played with intensity and a good attitude, not so much to prove anybody wrong, but to show that we get it.

"When you come up against a team that has been struggling a little bit and you answer the call, you have to take a lot of pride in that. I don't want to mislead you. We didn't get a long way from the basics. We never have. But we weren't finding the same rhythm and we went overboard almost to make the rhythm be faster."

Maybe wins came too easily early. USC scored 63 points at Hawaii, 70 in their home opener against Arkansas and, after some first-quarter sloppiness, 45 points on Oregon.

"I think the first two games kind of didn't hurt us, but we scored so many points and we were able to do whatever we wanted," said quarterback Matt Leinart, who was a spectacularly efficient 20 for 26, throwing for 201 yards and four touchdowns and breaking the conference record for career touchdown passes. "We knew every game wasn't going to be like that, but we were like, 'OK, we can pretty much do anything.' We finally established a rhythm today and played efficient football. We got back to basics."

For USC, even the basics can turn spectacular. Reggie Bush, heir apparent to Leinart's Heisman Trophy victory, magically spun out of trouble, cut to his right and outran his pursuers on an 84-yard punt return that was enough to make you glad you came to the game.

And sophomore split end Dwayne Jarrett, who is beginning to look like USC's next Mike Williams, tiptoed into the corner of the end zone, shook loose an arm from Roy Lewis' smothering defense and caught Leinart's final touchdown pass, in his right hand. Just like Williams.

"I do a lot of one-hand catches, but I'm not really the showboat type," Jarrett said. "I always try to make a play with two hands, but if I have to, I will make it with one hand."

That's the thing; the Trojans aren't showboating types. They don't gloat. Their taunts are muffled. They just play as if they know they're better than everyone else. They have another gear nobody else in the land has.

They toyed with Washington. It's what the Trojans can do.

They give you little moments of joy, like Marlon Wood's 92-yard return of the opening kickoff.

They come into your house and give you little glimmers of hope, like the Huskies' 10-7 lead, then they suck the life out of the place.

With the Trojans, you're always the mice. The Trojans are always the cats.

They are considered Los Angeles' professional football franchise, the hottest ticket in town since Shaq left for Miami. They are college football's glitterati.

"We have so many talented players on the team," Jarrett said, ticking off names like he was announcing the Kodak All-America team. "Anybody can break a play on any given moment. I don't feel that no one can stop us, but we definitely have high confidence and we have high expectations of our offense.

"Our expectations are so high that I think we have a swagger about us that no one can beat us if we put our mind to it and stay focused. I believe that we can put points up on anybody, anytime."

They have. And they will, all the way to the Rose Bowl and another national championship game.

Steve Kelley: 206-464-2176 or skelley@seattletimes.com.