Trojans believe they can get out of their own way now

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USC football players claim to have focus following a few close calls.

By Phil Collin
Daily Breeze

Remember those two easy victories, one on the road, one at home, where yards were gobbled up and points were plentiful?

USC scored 133 points in its first two games and didn't mind being called the greatest of all time.

Then came the fits and starts in a four-game funk that perplexed the Trojans, maxed out their will to win and could have left them as just another two-loss team.

So they righted the ship and 106 points in two games later, are they headed for another self-induced test of character?

If anything of the sort does occur starting with Saturday's Pacific-10 Conference home game against Stanford, they insist they'll be able to deal with it better.

"Yeah, I think we would, but I don't think it's going to happen again,'' said junior running back Reggie Bush, one of the team captains. "We're at the point now where we're extremely focused. And we're going to keep winning games. We're not going to allow ourselves to get back to that distraction or anything.''

Ranked No. 1 since December of 2003, USC (8-0, 5-0) has at times made the game look almost ridiculously easy, as evidenced in the Trojans' romps over Hawaii and Arkansas.

"There's nothing easy about going undefeated,'' Bush said. "I think it was just more that it's hard to get up for every team, every game, every year. Especially when you go in conference and you're playing teams that know you inside and out and they've played against you numerous times.

"It's just kind of difficult in that sense. You're constantly finding new ways to beat those same teams.''

The Trojans learned last season what it was like to go through a season as the country's No. 1 target. Figuring out if the degree of difficulty is higher this year may be impossible.

"It could be they're taking better shots, it could be that we just didn't come out focused or prepared like we should have,'' Bush said.

Examination starts with tossing aside all of the factors that led to the struggles that nearly cost them, particularly against Arizona State (after trailing by 21-3 at halftime) and Notre Dame (winning on the last play from scrimmage).

They had every imaginable penalty, dropped passes, errant passes, allowed punt returns for touchdowns, gave up long kickoff returns, and generally invited psychotherapy advice from every fan in the region.

"It was pretty clear that it felt different and that we weren't having the same kind of success we were hoping to,'' Coach Pete Carroll said. "I think there's too many factors -- (opposing) teams did well, we were on the road and stuff like that. Hopefully, we'll be able to recognize it and come out of it a little sooner.''

Though USC is a prohibitive favorite against Stanford (4-3, 3-2), the Cardinal threw the biggest scare into the Trojans last season by building a 28-17 halftime lead.

"We've been through the hardest times,'' quarterback Matt Leinart said. "We've still got a tough four games coming up, starting with Stanford, so it's never going to be easy.

"It's not going to be easy this last month, but I do think we have it back. I think we have the focus, that we have the preparation down every day and I don't think we'll lose sight of that again.

"We've been through some tough games and it's good. I think it's a blessing in disguise when you go through the season when you have tough games like that.''

Leinart, the Heisman Trophy-winning leader in 33 wins in his 34 starts, even admitted that he had lost some of his touch.

"We're fine as a team, and me personally, I feel a lot better about how I've been playing the last couple of weeks,'' he said.