From Star teammate Bob Buttitta:

PASADENA -- For much of Thursday's Rose Bowl game, former local standouts Kevin Thomas, Josh Pinkard and Clay Matthews were all on the field playing for USC's top-rated defense.

There were many plays where Thomas, the former Rio Mesa standout, and Pinkard, who starred at Hueneme, were holding down the corners, while Mathews, who played at Agoura, was stalking the Penn State quarterback from his defensive end spot.

Thomas said it was a thrill to be part of a defense that many people have called the best college defensive unit in the country.

"It's great playing on a defense with such great success," Thomas said. "The caliber of athletes we have, it's definitely a blessing. I am thankful to be part of this until I'm sorry to see it come to an end. Hopefully, we can improve next year.

"We definitely made a statement tonight. We have been playing a lot of these Big Ten teams an for us to come out and be so successful I think it says something about the team we have the confidence we play with."

Two one-loss teams will play in the Bowl Championship Series national title game, but No. 5 USC (11-1) won't be one of them. The Trojans are set to play No. 6 Penn State (11-1) on New Year's Day in the Trojans' fourth straight Rose Bowl appearance.

"That's just how it is," said defensive end Clay Matthews, an Agoura High product. "That's just how it works. I'm sure Penn State is thinking the same thing."

USC has won all five meetings against Big 10 Conference opposition under Pete Carroll by an average margin of 35-14.

"For whatever reasons, the loss that we had just hung on us," said USC coach Pete Carroll of the Trojans 27-21 upset at Oregon State on Sept. 25. "It didn't seem like it ever changed, the opinion of that (loss).

"We had a bad quarter and a half all season... There's nothing we can do about it."

USC allowed only 56 points in the nine games since the loss in Corvallis, an average of 6.2 per game. It's allowed just seven points in the third quarter all season, a 5-yard touchdown run by Arizona's Nic Grigsby on Oct. 25.

"I'm not politicking because it doesn't feel right," added Carroll. "We just accept what it is."

Three plays after C.J. Gable fumbled the ball away on the Trojans' opening play from scrimmage, UCLA receiver Dominique Johnson hit running back Kahlil Bell for a 21-yard touchdown pass on a double pass to give the toothless Bruins a 7-0 lead.

UCLA's longest scoring play of the season was just the fourth passing touchdown, and 11th touchdown overall, USC's defense for the ages had allowed in 12 games.

"It took a trick play (to score)," said USC defensive end Clay Matthews, an Agoura High product. "From that point on, we said we weren't going to give up another point."

Hueneme High product Josh Pinkard, Agoura High product Clay Matthews and former St. Bonaventure High student Rey Maualuga were three of the USC football team's seniors who ran out out of the Coliseum tunnel and onto the field for the final time this evening on Senior Day.

The USC football team's 44-10 win over Oregon was seconds old when the Matthews family, which was credited with 13 tackles and a sack, met at midfield.

Older brother Clay, an Agoura High product, started for USC and made five tackles. Younger brother Casey, an Oaks Christian School product, came off the bench for Oregon and made eight tackles and a sack.

"It was exciting," said Matthews. "They both made a few players and neither of them got hurt, which always makes for a good night."

As they huddled for photos after the game, family members showed off their "Matthews Showdown" t-shirts.

When the two brothers were both on the field for the kickoff, it reminded their father, NFL Hall of Famer Clay Matthews Jr., of facing off against his brother Bruce twice a year when the Cleveland Browns and Houston Oilers competed in the AFC Central.

"Those games were always miniature Super Bowls," said the father.

After Josh Pinkard broke up a third down Jeremiah Masoli pass, Oregon was forced to kick a 44-yard field goal.

But Clay Matthews was flagged for roughing placekicker Matt Evensen.

Four plays later, Jeremiah Johnson gave Oregon a 7-0 lead with a 1-yard touchdown run, capping a 14-play, 70-yard scoring march.

Agoura High product Clay Matthews Jr. will start for USC at defensive end this afternoon.

His younger brother Casey is Oregon's backup middle linebacker.

Hueneme High graduate Josh Pinkard makes his second straight start at cornerback.

Here's what local products were saying yesterday about their upcoming college football games this Saturday.

- Arizona State quarterback Rudy Carpenter (Westlake) spent the bye week in Tempe following the Sun Devils' loss to Georgia studying film of the their upcoming opponent Cal.
"I'm kind of going to start all over again with the film process and re-watch everything," Carpenter told the Arizona Republic. "This is a huge game for us. Georgia was a big game, but in the grand scheme of things it's not a Pac-10 game."

- USC senior Clay Matthews (Agoura) will be in the starting lineup on Saturday against Oregon. The former walk-on will either start at linebacker or defensive end depending on the injury status middle linebacker Rey Maualuga.
"He's just been too effective to keep him on the sideline," USC head coach Pete Carroll told reporters.

- Brigham Young University tight end Dennis Pitta (Moorpark) missed bye week practices last week with a sore shoulder, but should be back on the field against Utah State on Saturday. The potential BCS-busting Cougars moved up to No. 7 in the USA Today/Coaches' Poll, No. 8 in the Associated Press rankings and No. 9 in the Harris poll.
"I feel good," Pitta told the Salt Lake Tribune. "I will be practicing all this week. I just got a little banged up here and there in the game against Wyoming, so the bye week was a good time for me to rest up and try to get my legs back under me."

- Following Oregon State's upset victory over then top-ranked USC, Greg Newman (Thousand Oaks) and his Utah teammates are anxious to get the Beavers in Salt Lake City and continue the Mountain West supremacy over the Pac-10 Conference this season.
"This is what the game of football is all about for me and why I play," Newman told the Tribune. "It's going to be a whole lot of fun and I can't wait to get out there."

Game notes:

--USC, which leads the series 12-9-1, has won six in a row against Ohio State and eight in a row against the Big Ten Conference.
-- USC has now held Ohio State to three points or less in the last four meetings at the Coliseum: 42-3 in 1989, 32-3 in 1963 and 17-0 in 1959.
-- USC snapped Ohio State's 141-game streak of scoring at least one touchdown. The last time Ohio State was kept out of the end zone was Nov. 23, 1996 in a 13-9 loss to Michigan.

Local notes:

-- Maualuga's 48-yard interception return for a touchdown was USC's first pick 6 since Darnell Bing at Hawaii on Sept. 3, 2005. Maualuga is a former St. Bonaventure High student.
-- Clay Matthews' strip-sack with 59 seconds left in the first half gives him two sacks and two forced fumbles for the season. Matthews' is an Agoura High graduate.
-- Oxnard defensive backs Josh Pinkard and Kevin Thomas both tallied passes defensed. Pinkard is a Hueneme High product and Thomas went to Rio Mesa High.

The Trojans are in complete control. USC defensive end Clay Matthews, an Agoura High product, just sacked Ohio State quarterback Todd Boeckman, jarring the ball loose with 59 seconds to play in the first half.

USC defensive end Kyle Moore recovered the fumble at the Buckeyes' 38-yard line and the Trojans were in position to put the game away.

But the Trojans failed to add to their 21-3 lead as Mark Sanchez was intercepted in the end zone by Chimdi Chekwa.