AP Sports: California USC Preview

By ANTHONY GIORNALISTA

It's been a while since Southern California did not play for a national title. It's been a lot longer since California earned a spot in the Rose Bowl.  After the fourth-ranked Trojans (8-1, 6-1) unexpectedly climbed back into the national championship race, they face the No. 17 Golden Bears (8-2, 6-1) on Saturday night in a matchup that will decide the Pac-10's BCS bid.  The winner of the matchup at the Los Angeles Coliseum will own the tiebreaker advantage in the conference. A victory would keep USC in position to possibly play for the national title for the fourth straight season. California, meanwhile, can clinch its first Rose Bowl berth since the 1958 season. The Trojans' 33-31 loss at Oregon State on Oct. 28 appeared to have eliminated them from national championship contention, but several upsets have thrust USC back into the thick of the race.  "We have a great opportunity to do something special,'' coach Pete Carroll said after the Trojans celebrated homecoming by beating then-No. 21 Oregon 35-10 Saturday night for their 31st straight victory at the L.A. Coliseum. "These last few games really do feel like playoff games to us. We want to see if we can put it together.''

The Trojans are in third place in the BCS, right behind Ohio State and Michigan, returning to the spot they held before losing three weeks ago. Ohio State and Michigan meet Saturday, with the winner assured of finishing first in the final BCS standings. USC hopes to finish second, and that could be a reachable goal with three more wins. The Trojans play No. 6 Notre Dame next week, also at the Coliseum, before finishing against crosstown rival UCLA at the Rose Bowl. "This is our playoff run right now,'' said USC defensive end Lawrence Jackson, who had three of the Trojans' four sacks against the Ducks - his first three of the season. Ranked ninth in the AP poll after its loss, the Trojans now trail unbeaten Ohio State and Michigan and once-beaten Florida. Five teams ahead of USC two weeks ago have lost since that time, and Florida barely avoided being upset Saturday, getting a blocked field goal in the final seconds to preserve a 17-16 victory over South Carolina. Chauncey Washington rushed for a career-high 119 yards and three touchdowns, and John David Booty passed for 176 yards and another score to lead the Trojans past Oregon. The big story, though, was the USC defense, which limited the Ducks to their lowest point total of the season. The Trojans beat Stanford 42-0 the previous week, and are allowing 14.7 points per game. Cal had the league's leading rusher in Marshawn Lynch, and its most efficient passer, Nathan Longshore, but its 24-20 loss to Arizona on Saturday knocked it out of the national title hunt. Cal's matchup with USC, though, is perhaps its most meaningful game in decades.

"It's nice to have the opportunity to play for the Pac-10 championship,'' California coach Jeff Tedford said. "That's what we play for.'' While Lynch rushed for 102 yards, the Bears never found an offensive rhythm against Arizona. Lynch has 1,090 rushing yards, making him just the second player in team history with two 1,000-yard seasons. He is tied with teammate DeSean Jackson for the conference lead with 13 touchdowns. Longshore leads the Pac-10 with 2,393 yards and 21 passing touchdowns. He threw for 250 yards and three TDs with one interception Saturday, but it wasn't enough to overcome costly penalties. Cal had a pair of interceptions and a 79-yard touchdown run by Lynch erased by penalties. "It's not over,'' Bears center Alex Mack said. "It just hurts.'' Jackson was the star of the game, returning a punt return 95 yards for a touchdown. It was his conference-record fifth career punt return for a touchdown. Jackson has four this season, averaging 20.7 yards per return. He also caught a career-long 62-yard touchdown pass from Longshore and finished with six catches for 131 yards. Jackson leads the team with 45 catches for 811 yards and nine touchdowns. USC leads the series with Cal 58-30-5. The Trojans have won two straight since a 34-31 triple-overtime road loss on Sept. 27, 2003. It was USC's only defeat en route to the first of two straight national titles.