Las Vegas' loss is Beavers' gain.

Byline: BOB RODMAN The Register-Guard

CORVALLIS - That college football program housed in Las Vegas, UNLV, rolled the dice with Steven Jackson and lost.

"The final decision came down to UNLV and Oregon State," said Jackson, now a sophomore tailback with the Beavers who has begun the 2002 season with back-to-back 100-yard rushing games.

"Oregon State was a better fit, I thought, and coach (Dennis) Erickson would be a better coach for me," said Jackson, one of five athletes from Las Vegas on the OSU roster. "I liked the way they (the Beavers) showed emotion, and I wanted to be a part of it."

Jackson joins his other Las Vegas brethren at Oregon State - linebackers Richard Seigler and Jonathan Pollard, and defensive backs Lawrence Turner and Kellen Marshall - for Saturday's reunion-type game with UNLV that is scheduled to be nationally televised on TBS, beginning at 4 p.m.

"I think we overlooked Jackson," admitted John Robinson, the Rebels' coach who also overlooked Seigler, a junior and OSU's leading tackler last season. "Oregon State has established a (recruiting) foothold (in Las Vegas)."

"They (UNLV) did not offer me a scholarship, didn't look at me, didn't talk to me, didn't send me a letter ... nothing," said Seigler, a 1998 graduate of Chaparral High in Las Vegas. "I have a lot of motivation for Saturday's game."

"I have something to prove to them," Jackson said.

"All of us from Las Vegas want to go out and show that they missed out on all the Las Vegas players," Seigler said.

WE MEET AGAIN: UNLV quarterback Jason Thomas and OSU defensive tackle Eric Manning were teammates at Dominquez High in Compton, Calif.

Thomas was the quarterback and Manning was the center.

"I look forward to the game, to seeing him," Thomas said, "but this time I'll be looking at his eyes instead of his backside."

UNBEATEN SO FAR: The Beavers, whose defense is yet to yield a touchdown this season, are 2-0, having outpointed Eastern Kentucky and Temple by a combined score of 84-13.

This is the ninth time since 1942 that Oregon State has begun a season 2-0 and the fourth time in the last five years.

DOMINANCE: Robinson, an Oregon graduate who began his coaching career as an assistant with the Ducks, has a record of 17-1-1 against the two Pac-10 teams from the state of Oregon.

All of those games, including the loss and tie to Oregon, came when Robinson was coaching at USC.

"I coached in the Pac-10 most of my life," said Robinson, who owns an 11-0 record against OSU. "I got emotionally involved in Oregon State when they hired Mike Riley (a former assistant with Robinson at USC) as coach (in 1997, a job he held for two seasons).

"I became an Oregon State fan," Robinson said. "I hope there's no clap of lightning for saying that because I am an old Duck."

ON NATIONAL TV TWICE: Oregon State officials announced on Tuesday that the Beavers' game against Fresno State on Sept. 21 at Reser Stadium is scheduled to be televised nationally on Fox Sports Net, beginning at 3:30 p.m.

Saturday's game against UNLV at Reser is scheduled to be the first of a number TBS national telecasts of games involving Pac-10 teams. Turner Sports signed a five-year licensing deal with Fox Sports Net, which essentially is syndicating part of its package with the Pac-10.

ABC gets first pick of games each week from the Pac-10 and Big 12 conferences. On alternate weeks, TBS or Fox Sports Net makes the next choice. When TBS selects third, it likely will be from the conference not chosen by Fox Sports Net.

TBS has not carried college football games since 1991, but the network's officials have said that the Pac-10 deal will enable TBS to lure viewers on the West Coast, where it is relatively weak.