CELEBRATION TIME IS OVER FOR OSU.

Byline: Bob Rodman The Register-Guard

CORVALLIS - Nothing lasts forever, they say, and the joy from Oregon State's dramatic 23-20 victory over California on Saturday lasted far less than forever.

How about 18 hours?

The celebration, OSU football coach Mike Riley said on Sunday, "is done. We just saw the team, watched film and ran. Now, it is on to the next game."

From the proverbial frying pan, in which the Beavers fried then 18th-ranked Cal in its own kitchen, to the fire - unbeaten and eighth-rated UCLA, in its own kitchen.

"The Bruins have a lot of good things going on, and one of them is confidence," Riley said of the program OSU has defeated just twice in its past six tries.

UCLA, 6-0 overall, has steamrolled its way to a tie at the top of the Pac-10 Conference with No. 1 USC at 3-0 after coming from behind for an overtime victory at WSU last weekend.

"It will be another great challenge and another great opportunity for the Beavers," said Riley, whose 4-2, 2-1 team plays the Bruins in the Rose Bowl at 4 p.m. next Saturday, a game scheduled for a TBS national telecast.

Oregon State answered the challenge and took advantage of the opportunity at Cal by beating the Bears at their own game - rushing.

Yvenson Bernard, OSU's sophomore tailback, rushed for a career-high 194 yards on a career-high 42 carries and scored twice.

"I know he's sore, but he's a warrior," Riley said. "If I had to describe him in one word, it would be tough.

"It was encouraging to see us run the ball and take control of that part of game. We want to build on that because it can be a big factor in how good we can become."

The Beavers were averaging just 92 rushing yards per game, ninth in the Pac-10, before erupting against Cal.

"Bit by bit we've improved, and one little sign of it coming along is our not taking many losses in the running game," Riley said. "We used to not only not gain yards but get hit in the backfield.

"The line has done a good job of not allowing big penetration. I think our (rushing) stats would be better if we had not had so many (quarterback) sacks."

Oregon State quarterbacks have been sacked a league-high 22 times for 153 yards this season, 21 of those behind-the-line drops sustained by Matt Moore, a junior who once played for UCLA.

Eight of Moore's 10 interceptions this season have occurred in the past three games, including three against Cal.

"I'm not concerned. Cal has the best pass defense in the Pac-10," said Riley, noting the Bears' limiting star OSU receiver Mike Hass to just four catches for 17 yards.

"Their pass defense is one of the reasons we went to the run game, and Matt still threw a couple of key third-down conversion passes."

Meanwhile, the Beavers' oft-maligned defense, which had been yielding a Pac-10-worst 470 yards per game, limited Cal to 315 yards, well off its average of 473, and just 20 points - half its average of 40.

And the Bears' rushing offense, second-best in the league with an average of 271 yards, managed just 75.

"We stymied a team that had been running over everybody," Riley said. "Our coverage held up well. When (linebacker) Keith (Ellison) blitzed, he was outstanding.

"The defensive line was as solid as could be. It has made some strides, nothing dramatic or remarkable. We just played a good game and had a good game plan."

As for his injury report, Riley said there were the usual "bumps and bruises, but I don't see anybody being held out of the next game."