DEFINING USC'S TERMS FOR TROJANS, JUST ONE WIN IN NCAA TOURNEY WON'T BE GOOD ENOUGH.

Byline: Scott Wolf  Staff Writer

UNIONDALE, N.Y. - For the past two weeks, USC forward Brian Scalabrine has loved quizzing reporters after games with a simple question: ``What's our identity now?''

It's a reaction to the Trojans' own frustration pinpointing the team's dominant image. USC's personality seems to change on a game-by-game basis, which sounds strange for a veteran team.

With that in mind, the success and lasting memory of this season will be largely dependent on how USC fares in the NCAA Tournament, beginning Thursday night against Oklahoma State at Nassau Coliseum.

If the Trojans (21-9) win their opener, and somehow squeak out another victory, they could go down as the most successful USC team in years. Decades, really.

The only time the Trojans won two games in the NCAA Tournament was in 1954, when USC advanced to the Final Four before losing to Bradley.

But if the Trojans stumble against the Cowboys (20-9) in their East Regional opener, it will be hard to put a good face on a season that began with enormous expectations.

``We've been so up and down, if we do good in the tournament, we'll feel good,'' shooting guard Jeff Trepagnier said. ``If we lose, we won't feel lousy because we made the tournament, but we won't be happy.''

With every significant player back from last year and most of this season spent in the Top 25, USC players expect to do more than win their first tournament game. Basically, they want to accomplish something memorable in order to give this year a thumbs up.

``That'll be big to win one, but we don't want to settle for one,'' Trepagnier said.

The players' lofty goals for this tournament show how much their mindset has changed since USC's last appearance, in 1997.

``It's a different feeling'' said forward Jarvis Turner, the only player left from that team. ``We pretty much were just happy to get in the last time.''

A strong showing in this tournament almost seems a requirement for the Trojans to be satisfied. Although they won 20 games for the first time since 1992, that was expected by the players and fans.

The stakes always have been higher. It seems ages ago that one preseason analysis picked the Trojans as a sleeper team for the Final Four, and Scalabrine was selected as a Playboy All-American. This week, he didn't even make the All-Pacific-10 Conference team.

These are among the reasons why the tournament can serve as redemption for the Trojans - if they are successful.

USC coach Henry Bibby has blamed the media for the high expectations this season. But he admitted this week that he expected the Trojans to win 26 games before Trepagnier was suspended for the first half of the season while under NCAA investigation.

``Without him, I thought we would win 18 games,'' Bibby said. ``I'm happy where we are. I'm happy to win 21 games.''

That means the Trojans exceeded his personal goal, but practically no one else set the bar so low.

Consider that USC finished 11-7 in the Pac-10 this season, and had Trepagnier available for all but one game. That's an improvement of only two games from last year, when the Trojans were without leading scorer Sam Clancy (broken foot) for 10 games and Turner (broken ankle) for 14 games.

USC also defeated UCLA and Arizona last season at the Sports Arena. This season, the Trojans were 0-6 against UCLA, Arizona and Stanford, the top three teams in the Pac-10.

Trepagnier bravely takes the blame for any struggles USC experienced.

``We had high hopes,'' he said. ``I think I kind of messed us up when I got suspended. We would have gone undefeated in the preseason if I played. I don't think we would have lost more than four games in the Pac-10.''

Mostly, USC has been inconsistent. Even Bibby has no idea which USC team will show up Thursday. The Trojans lost twice to No. 1-ranked Stanford by a combined eight points, but also lost to Arizona by 44 points.

``I'm worried about us,'' Bibby said. ``Which team will come to play? The one that won those last two games (against the Washington schools) or the team that played Arizona?''

Frequently, Bibby has lamented that only two players would bring their ``A'' games on some nights, while the other three starters end up taking the game off, which explains the Trojans' inconsistency.

So what does he plan to do to get multiple contributions against Oklahoma State?

``There's nothing I can do,'' Bibby said. ``Now it's time to play basketball. We have kind of forced ourselves to play (well) the last four, five games.''

No. 6 USC vs. No. 11 OKLAHOMA STATE

When: Thursday, 7:10 p.m.

Where: Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, N.Y.

TV: Channel 2

Records: USC 21-9; Oklahoma State 20-9

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo: (color) Jeff Trepagnier and USC feel they must win more than one game in the NCAA Tournament.

Ben Margot/Associated Press

Box: No. 6 USC vs. No. 11 OKLAHOMA STATE (see text)