DEFENSE QUIETLY GETTING JOB DONE.

Byline: STEVE DILBECK

The USC offense is getting the headlines. Getting its due acclaim. Putting up big points, making quarterback Carson Palmer a legitimate Heisman candidate.

It's such a role reversal for a team coached by Pete Carroll, the former NFL defensive coordinator and head coach, you'd think it would feel like an out-oody experience.

The USC defense has been almost living in the shadow of the glitzy offense. A defense that lost three starters to injury. That had to quietly wonder how it would perform.

Answer: Good, and getting better. Getting very good.

``We're getting used to playing with each other,'' strong safety Troy Polamalu said. ``It's too bad it took us this long to do it. We're coming together.''

They're not shutting out many teams, just holding them down. Controlling them, making them work, and then pay. Disguising coverages, changing coverages, blitzing from anywhere on the field.

USC went up against another high-scoring Pacific-10 Conference team Saturday afternoon. Another point-a-minute opponent that would leave most defensive coordinators with sleepless nights.

Arizona State came in averaging 34.4 points per game, 15th-best in the country. And like its five previous conference opponents, USC held it under its season-scoring average.

USC's 34-13 victory over the Sun Devils was an efficient, business-like undertaking. The Trojans had physical control. They made the big plays. They caused the frustration.

USC led 20-10 at the break, and all the Sun Devils could manage in the second half was a measly field goal.

With Palmer and tailback Justin Fargas finally leading the Trojans to a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns, the defense did the rest. There were four sacks, two interceptions, lots of swarming and one monster drive- killing stop.

That's what makes this USC team particularly interesting - it has balance. The offense is getting its moment to shine, but the defense is getting quietly better by the game.

``They have a really good defense,'' ASU receiver Shaun McDonald said. ``They're fast and really physical. Their front four put a lot of pressure on Andrew (Walter), and they had a really good scheme.''

Walter came in another young Pac-10 quarterback sensation. He already had thrown for almost 3,000 yards and broken Danny White's single-season school record.

Walter threw 49 times Saturday, and had one touchdown to show for it.

``He was very frustrated,'' ASU coach Dirk Koetter said. ``We knew they'd change coverages a little, and they used blitz, zone and man. He made some throws he shouldn't have.''

He was throwing against a pair of corners who weren't expected to be starters, after Kevin Arbet was lost for the season in training camp and Ronald Nunn in the third game against Kansas State.

But Darrell Rideaux and Marcell Allmond, a converted wide receiver, just keep improving. Then in midseason, defensive tackle Shaun Cody was lost to injury, and Bernard Riley joined the line.

And the defense just rolls on. Carroll - who continues to double as the team's defensive coordinator - keeps the unit playing at a high level.

``The last few years, we've been a defensive team,'' Riley said. ``We have a defensive coach. We were going to put something together regardless. The next guy goes in, and you don't miss a beat.''

The Trojans held ASU to 27 yards rushing, the fifth consecutive game they've held their opponent under 100 yards. No player has rushed for 100 yards against USC this season.

``The mentality the coach has us playing at is unbelievable,'' USC linebacker Mike Pollard said. ``He wants us to be tough, and we've been tough.''

ASU picked up yards in spurts but struggled to find consistency. It tried using a no-huddle. It tried a lot of things, but it never could master USC's swarming defense.

In the fourth quarter, with the Trojans leading 27-13, the Sun Devils drove to the USC 27. But on a fourth-and-1, Allmond and Pollard stuffed tailback Mike Williams for no gain.

ASU would never threaten again.

The unit in the shadow is again looking for its time in the spotlight.

``Right now, we're upscale,'' Carroll said. ``I can do just about all the stuff I've done with all my teams.''

He means teams like the 49ers and Jets and Patriots. NFL teams. Yeah, they're that sophisticated. They're getting that good.

Pollard said no one on the team is concerned with where the credit goes, just the victories.

``It doesn't matter,'' he said. ``As long as we get a good, solid win and get some more bandwagoners, that's all that counts.''

They've got UCLA and Notre Dame, a pair of season-defining games, awaiting. Two major rivals, two teams that will have to be ready for a balanced team.