BREATH OF FRESH AIR USC BEATS ASU, NOW SET TO PREPARE FOR UCLA, IRISH USC 34, ARIZONA ST. 13.

Byline: Scott Wolf  Staff Writer

USC treated Saturday's game against Arizona State with all the enthusiasm of a trip to the dentist, ever fearful of the consequences and just thrilled afterward to get it over with.

Fortunately for the eighth-ranked Trojans, they felt about as inconvenienced as someone getting their teeth cleaned after a 34-13 victory in front of 73,923 at the Coliseum.

``I felt relief, that's exactly what I felt,'' USC linebacker Matt Grootegoed said. ``Now we can go into our next two games and worry about those because we got this win.''

There were collective sighs all around, and not just because the Trojans were clinging to a 20-13 lead to start the fourth quarter.

``(Arizona State) had a lot of motives to beat us, and we only had the motive to be 8-2,'' USC defensive end Omar Nazel said. ``They wanted respect because we kicked their butts last year. We just needed a win.''

USC (8-2, 5-1) got what it wanted, although it didn't quite earn the style points of the previous three victories. The Trojans didn't eclipse 40 points and needed two fourth-quarter touchdowns to put away the game.

But in the end, the pregame mission was accomplished, although the players constantly thought about how much they could lose with one slip-up.

``It's all stressful because we need to win every game,'' tailback Sultan McCullough said.

The Trojans finish the season with archrivals UCLA and Notre Dame, and the games will be bigger than usual, with a possible at-large berth in the Bowl Championship Series, or even a Rose Bowl bid, at stake.

``The next couple games will have a lot of emotion,'' wide receiver Kareem Kelly said. ``The last couple games we had to get ourselves up. Now we won't have to because it'll be so emotional.

``Regardless of what we did the last 10 weeks, the season will be remembered by how we finish. It would be a shame if we went 8-4, so we still have got a lot ahead of us.''

This victory was a little less glamorous, mainly because Arizona State (7-5, 4-3) tried to take away the pass and because USC wide receiver Mike Williams was bothered by a sore ankle.

Williams caught just one pass - an 18-yard touchdown - but clearly was limited.

``I felt a step slow,'' Williams said. ``A couple balls were out of my reach that I usually catch.''

McCullough added, ``If his ankle wasn't hurting, he could have made two more touchdown catches.''

With the Sun Devils attacking the pass, USC decided to run. Former Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks tailback Justin Fargas gained 125 yards on 26 carries, his second game with more than 100 yards in the past three weeks.

``A couple times (I got tired),'' Fargas said. ``I'm not used to getting the ball that much, but I just played through it.''

McCullough added a 59-yard run that helped set up a touchdown.

USC also beat Arizona State at its own game. The Sun Devils led the Pacific-10 Conference in forcing turnovers (33) and were tied for first in sacks (44), but the Trojans bested them in both categories. USC recorded four sacks and allowed Arizona State two. The Trojans did not commit a turnover, intercepted two Andrew Walter passes and recovered a Walter fumble.

``We're a good team, but a lot of players are modest enough to not get a big head,'' USC defensive tackle Bernard Riley said. ``The next two games are our bowl games. We've got to win the next two.''

But it wasn't until about five minutes were left that the Trojans could think ahead. They led 20-13 at the start of the fourth quarter but drove 71 yards to start the final period, as Palmer completed a 33-yard pass to Fargas and a 31-yard pass to Keary Colbert.

``I was asking the coaches all week to let me catch a ball, and I came through,'' Fargas said.

Fargas scored on a 3-yard run to give USC a 27-13 lead with 12:58 left.

It remained competitive when the Sun Devils drove down to the USC 27-yard line and had a fourth-and-1 situation. But tailback Mike Williams was gang-tackled by a group led by cornerback Marcell Allmond to end Arizona State's drive.

That play allowed USC to breathe for the first time.

``I was very nervous,'' Grootegoed said. ``We didn't want to have a close game.''

With about a minute left in the game, Kelly said he finally started thinking toward next week's contest with UCLA.

``Every time we play against them, it's always a physical game, and that's how this one will be,'' Kelly said.

Grootegoed said it dawned on him as he entered the locker room after the game.

``That's when UCLA clicked in my head,'' he said. ``These are two huge games, we can finally start thinking about them.''

Carroll said little about the rivalry games, but the players seemed to recognize their importance, especially since this is all unexplored territory for them.

``We're finally where we want to be,'' Nazel said. ``USC hasn't been in this position since I've been here. We're always on our toes.''

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(color) USC's Justin Fargas gained 125 yards on 26 carries Saturday in the Trojans' 34-13 victory.

Edna T. Simpson/Daily News