Stanford running back Toby Gerhart on Stanford's record-breaking 55-21 win over USC this afternoon:

"It feels great. That's a testament to our offensive line. They get after it week in and week out. We feel like we can run power on anybody and get after anybody.

"This is something we'll always remember, you know? Come down here to the Coliseum and put up big points and win."

"It feels good to come down here, put up good numbers and maybe show them a little bit that they missed out on me."

Stanford just scored to take a 55-21 lead with two minutes to play at the Coliseum.

It's the most points the USC football team has ever allowed at home.

Toby Gerhart has 178 yards and three touchdowns rushing.

The biggest previous home loss in the Pete Carroll era was by 5 points.

Stanford has now won in consecutive trips to the Coliseum. It has been the visiting victor in USC's last three home losses.

Oregon State football coach Mike Riley on facing, and upsetting, the Trojans in recent years:

"Oh I don't know, you know it takes a great effort. I have a ton of respect for the school and the program and the work Pete has done and that's just personal. I think that it's either going to bring out this best in you or bury you and I'm just proud we've competed well and there have been good football games in general.

I think the whole USC deal with the last few years has made everybody in the conference either have to rise up or fall way behind and it's been good for everybody. Its one of those deals that you got to go year by year and you can't rely on anything in the past. We just look at it as a great challenge and a great opportunity for our team to get better and grow."

(on this year's team)

"Well, they're very impressive to watch as we study them on tape.

I think they're defense as always is really, really strong and very aggressive. I'm very impressed with their front, they don't give people many breaks. They're high energy and really hard to block, and that's going to be a key factor in the game. If you can ever get to it and throw, their secondary is really aggressive and good too, so there's all sorts of factors there that are big.

Offensively, they've got that balance going with a really good running game. I've really, really been impressed with Matt Barkley. I thought in the last game he played with a ton of poise, made some really, really big throws that were, you know they had some people around them and he was pacing in the pocket. All those parts are real and I think they look obviously like a really good team."

USC coach Pete Carroll Tuesday on the unveiling of the BCS standings. The Trojans sit No. 7, behind Cincinnati and Iowa:

"No. I really have the same stance that I've had forever. This is the first time that they unveiled, you know, the information, and this is really the most the least meaningful time of all, because we're so much in the middle of the season. You know, there's a lot of football. When it gets down to the last week, it makes a difference. Until then it doesn't have any bearing on anything to me.

I know there's a lot of people talking about it, and I guess that's why they do it."

USC coach Pete Carroll Tuesday on the unveiling of the BCS standings. The Trojans sit No. 7, behind Cincinnati and Iowa:

"No. I really have the same stance that I've had forever. This is the first time that they unveiled, you know, the information, and this is really the most the least meaningful time of all, because we're so much in the middle of the season. You know, there's a lot of football. When it gets down to the last week, it makes a difference. Until then it doesn't have any bearing on anything to me.

I know there's a lot of people talking about it, and I guess that's why they do it."

USC coach Pete Carroll on Saturday's visit of Oregon State, which shocked the Trojans last year in Corvallis:

"Q. What has Oregon State been able to do against you guys better than anybody else? Scheme wise, position wise?

"They've been really effective against us on both sides of the ball. They've been able to give us problems and they've had good fortune at their place two of the three times. Jumping out on us early offensively. You know, we fell behind 21-0 last year at one time.

They executed really well. Their guys played great football. They played just as tough as anybody we've played on that day. And we had trouble staying up with them, you know. The tempo of the game was set by their side of the football and their guys. And their crowd had a lot to do with it, you know, and they did a great job of it.

It wasn't just because it was a Thursday night game, they did it to us on Saturday, in the afternoon, and the sunshine.

I have tremendous respect for Mike and what he does, and their scheme and their approach. You know, they're an interesting team when you watch them year in and year out, because they have their games. You wonder how could this team play like this had and play at the other end of the spectrum. They struggle with a couple of games this year early.

As we saw them last year, remember, we came off the Penn State game and the Hawaii game last year. In the Penn State they looked terrible in that game...got blown away. And they came back and played a pretty good game against Hawaii. Then they played the game of the year for themselves against us.

So we have a lot of respect for them in that they can figure out their ways. They can get their kids right. They can give us issues that can upset us and allow us to play right. So hopefully we'll be able to overcome that here at the coliseum, and we'll figure out what happens next time around when we play them up there."

Following his eight catch, 117-yard, two-TD performance in Saturday's epic loss to USC, Notre Dame receiver Golden Tate has been compared to Hall of Famer Lynn Swann by USC coach Pete Carroll:

"He's a great player now. He really is. He's a true play maker. He has extraordinary confidence in his own ability to make things happen. The catch he makes over the middle when he holds the ball away from T.J. or Josh, that's an amazing grab. The presence to know to keep the ball away, that was big time.

His ability to play with great speed on the deep ball. But the best part of the deep ball that he caught was he elevated at the end of all of that. He was running full speed 40 yards down the field, and he hit it and got up off the ground and needed every bit of that elevation to make the play.

That's big time stuff. That's reminiscent of Lynn Swann going over top guys in Super Bowls. Those are fantastic athletic demonstrations. He's a great player. We kind of held him down, to tell you the truth. We were fortunate. We did a lot of stuff on keep him under wraps. A couple of times they caught it on our one on ones and we tried it, and we covered them. But the one time he did get us."

California Heisman Trophy candidate junior TB Jahvid Best addressed the media Wednesday following a Cal football practice at Memorial Stadium. Comments selected by Cal Sports Information:

On whether there's a different feeling on campus this week with the upcoming game against USC on Saturday
"I go to class and come to practice, so I don't even know. It's Berkeley; everybody's focused on school down there [on campus]."

On the USC defense
"They get different faces every year, but they get the same productivity. It's a typical USC defense."

More on the USC defense and the defensive numbers the Trojans have posted in 2009
"It's definitely going to be a challenge. It's going to be a physical game, and we've just got to be ready for it."

On Cal's troubles running the ball over the last six quarters
"Lack of execution. Any time you can't get something going offensively it's because of execution."

On whether not being able to execute weighs heavily on him
"It goes around the table."

On the USC game becoming a rivalry game
"Yeah, I think so."

On whether it's a rivalry game because of geographical connections or become both teams are good
"I think it's both."

On whether it's important to get a win against USC
"It's important to win every week, but SC week we've got to win."

On whether he hears anything from seniors that haven't beaten USC yet
"Those seniors are hungry for a Pac-10 championship. Getting a Pac-10 championship means beating SC, so it makes it that much more important."

On his troubles during the 2008 USC game
"It just gives me a little bit more motivation to go out there and produce this weekend, just to show that I can produce. That's pretty much it, just a little bit more motivation."

On why the 2008 game versus USC was so difficult for him
"They just dominated the line of scrimmage. We didn't execute as an offense, either, and that's basically what it boils down to."

On the team's confidence level heading into the USC game this Saturday
"We're real confident. We've put last week [at Oregon] behind us, and we're ready to go this week."

On whether playing against USC is a reason he came to Cal
"No [it's not a reason], but it is a perk."

On USC safety Taylor Mays
"He's a tremendous athlete, just how big he is and mixed in with how fast he is. He is going to be someone to watch out for on the field."

On how it's different playing USC at Cal instead of in Los Angeles
"It's going to be an exciting atmosphere. I'm pretty sure it's going to be packed, over-packed probably. People all on the hills everywhere, there's going to be cameras everywhere. It's going to be an exciting atmosphere."

On whether it matters that the national perception of him in the Heisman race will change if he and team do well against USC this Saturday
"No, it doesn't matter, but I hope that happens. I hope it happens, but it really doesn't matter to me."

On what the 2008 game vs. USC felt like
"Frustration would be the best way [to put it]."

On whether he felt like Cal was close to breaking through against USC in 2008
"We were close. A couple of different plays, and it would have been a whole different game. But, that's last year."

On how he deals with being patient when he gets bottled up like he did against USC in 2008
"That's probably the hardest thing I've got to do. But, if I trust in my coaching and techniques then good things will happen."

On whether he is a more patient person now than when he started at Cal
"Definitely."

From USC Sports Information:

"LOS ANGELES--USC's Sept. 26 home football game against Washington State will kick off at 7:15 p.m. PT and will be shown live nationally on FSN."

USC tailback Marc Tyler still keeps in constant contact with his former QB at Oaks Christian Jimmy Clausen.

"I talked to him last night and he said he was going to have a big game," Tyler said on Saturday after USC's victory over San Jose State. "I have to go watch the highlights."

Clausen made good on his word, starting the season in much the same fashion he ended last year. The Notre Dame junior quarterback was nearly flawless in leading Notre Dame to a shutout victory over Nevada. Clausen completed 15 of 18 passes for 315 yards and four touchdowns.

It was a good day all around for Oaks Christian products.

Tyler made the most of his opportunities for the Trojans. The redshirt sophomore rushed five times in the fourth quarter for 72 yards and scored a touchdown.

On his second carry of the game, Tyler took a pitch and zig-zagged 63 yards down to the 6-yard line. He followed with a 5-yard gain and a 1-yard dive into the end zone for his second career touchdown.

Up at Stanford, Chris Owusu scored two touchdowns in a Pac-10 win over Washington State. Owusu returned a kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown and took a short pass 63 yards for another score. The sophomore wide receiver had three receptions for 86 yards and returned three kickoffs for 143 yards.

Owusu finished with a game-high 239 all-purpose yards. But the effort came with a bit of a price. Owusu suffered from concussion-like symptoms after taking a hit.

My USC football preview: Goal is to finish close to home

Pete Carroll's typical optimism shone thorough when asked Tuesday about true freshman quarterback Matt Barkley, who will start the Trojans' season opener Saturday afternoon at San Jose State.

"Way beyond the expectations that we had for a first-time quarterback."

"I'm not real worried about having to limit what we're doing and we're going to be vulnerable because of it."

USC coach Pete Carroll lacked his normal optimism when speaking about the Trojans' linebackers Tuesday morning.

"That's a questionmark for us," said Carroll. "Hopefully, that'll be an adequate group and we'll have a chance to be an OK team."

Perhaps Carroll had just finished reading this article, which seems to say that Carroll has wrote off this season and is focusing on 2010.

Seems slightly ridiculous, right?

USC football coach Pete Carroll announced Monday that cornerback Shareece Wright has been declared academically ineligible and will be forced to sit out the 2009 season, which means Hueneme High product Josh Pinkard will be shifted to cornerback to fill the hole.

"Shareece didn't get it done," Carroll told the official USC blog Monday night. "He didn't get the GPA he needed to get."

Pinkard was expected to start at strong safety after starting 11 games at cornerback last season. Will Harris will replace him as starting strong safety.

Pete Carroll, now the dean of Pac-10 football coaches, once again served as the grand finale to the morning session at Pac-10 media day today.

(on safety Taylor Mays returning for his senior year)

"He wanted to be the best player he could be for his school."

(on the team's issues entering fall camp)

"The quarterback spot is what everybody wants to talk about. The linebacker spot is what everyone wants to talk about and rightfully so. It's nothing new for us. We have to recapture the level of intensity in practice..."

(on the strength of the conference)

"I know we've only lost a few games out of conference over the years, but we've lost of bunch of games in the conference. I can't imagine anybody better than this conference. This is the best conference in America.

"It's great for us, it makes us so strong at the end of the year. It calls for us to be at the very best."

(on the quarterbacks)

"The quarterback situation to me is very clear right now. Aaron came out of spring practice as the No. 1 guy. Just did a great job for us and gave us the feeling like 'Here we go.' "

(on the linebackers)

"When you lose four guys to the NFL, you should feel it. But we've never focused on the losses, we've always focused on who's arriving for the opportunity.

"We hope they can fill the linebacker spot that was left vacant by those guys going to the NFL."

(on how he would change the NCAA if he were in charge for one day)

"We'd have an awesome playoff system. That's it. I really don't care about anything else.

ESPN is reporting that USC quarterback Mark Sanchez will enter the NFL draft.

Two-time All-American safety Taylor Mays announced today that he will return for his 2009 senior season at USC

"There are a lot more things I want to accomplish as a player, a student and a person, things that I've dreamed about for a long time and that are big goals to me," said Mays. "Returning to USC will help me be the best player I can be and put me in the best position possible for the next level."

Said USC head coach Pete Carroll: "We're obviously delighted to learn of Taylor's decision. He and his family did a lot of research and made an educated decision.

"He's one of the most gifted safeties to ever play at USC and he wants to come back and do it one more time."

Click the jump for the news release from USC.

From Star teammate David Lassen:

Lydell Sargeant's view of the USC football team proved to be all too accurate.

Sargeant, the only Southern Californian on the Penn State roster - he played at Cabrillo High in Lompoc - talked earlier in the week about how he consistently spoke well of the Trojans during his time in State College, Pa.,

"I pump up all the USC guys when I was going through college because I know them," said Sargeant, who attended USC summer football camps and played in all-star games with some of the current Trojans.

"I've always said I think Mark (Sanchez) is the best quarterback I've ever seen personally."
And so, of course, Sanchez went out and completed 28 of 35 passes for 413 yards, tying a Rose Bowl record with four touchdown passes.

"Mark did a good job throwing to the receivers that were open and really reading our coverages," Sargeant said.

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."

Quarterback Daryll Clark set a Penn State bowl record by passing for 273 yards, two less yards than Sanchez threw for in the first half.