OVERRATED? THE POLLSTERS AREN'T AS BULLISH ON USC AT THE MIDWAY POINT OF THE SEASON AS THEY WERE IN WEEK 1.

Byline: SCOTT WOLF 

Staff Writer

Every major preseason poll ranked USC No. 1 without debate, impressed by 10 defensive starters returning, a Heisman Trophy-frontrunner at quarterback and the top recruiting class in the country.

Even two weeks ago, USC was atop the coaches' poll and still on track for a national-championship game appearance.

But today, the Trojans are lucky to crack the top 15 of the BCS ratings and confusing fans and their coaches with three consecutive uninspired performances.

Things changed so fast that this week, a high-ranking member of the program said incredulously, "you think we're worried about winning a national championship?"

So was everybody wrong about USC? Were the Trojans overrated? Or is this a three-week blip they will overcome?

"How can you are argue with fans?" defensive end Lawrence Jackson said. "They don't know what's going on. They don't know a good season from a bad season. They wake up and think the Trojans should go 13-0. It doesn't bother me."

But Jackson conceded he could see why fans might be upset.

"They think we don't get disappointed?" he said. "If I was a fan I'd expect the team to be great, too."

USC is just a point from being undefeated, but that loss is one for the ages because Stanford was a 41-point underdog. And nearly as unheard of for this program, the loss was bookended by a sloppy three-point win over Washington and an unimpressive seven-point victory over Arizona.

"You guys think Arizona is bad because of their record (2-5), but if you go through their roster, they are a pretty good team," Jackson said. "We expected a tough game."

If you listen to the coaches, there's a simple answer for USC's slide: Turnovers.

Quarterback John David Booty threw four interceptions in the loss to Stanford and even last week his replacement, Mark Sanchez, threw two more.

"The Green Bay Packers can come here tomorrow and if Brett Favre throws three interceptions, we win," offensive line coach Pat Ruel said. "If you turn it over multiple times, you lose.

"I can look back and go, if you do things a little bit better, make us a plus-turnover team, we are the No. 1 team in America. But we're minus- six. Turnovers create momentum and everyone wants to beat USC."

Ruel said it's too early to tell if USC is overrated because it's only the midway point of the season. That's enough time for many to decide USC is a far cry from its dynasty days with Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush, something offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian said last weekend.

A bigger worry is whether the Trojans will even be able to match last year's two-loss team that won the Rose Bowl. Many were disappointed with two losses, but this year's team has one loss and so far played the nation's 107th-best schedule, according to BCS guru Jerry Palm.

What happens when USC plays at Oregon, California and Arizona State? Or could lowly Notre Dame give the Trojans trouble this weekend?

Of course, the pivotal person in all this is USC coach Pete Carroll, who usually glides through this time of the year. But Carroll's not full of answers, although he points to turnovers and injuries.

"(The fans) have to wait like we have to wait and see where we are," Carroll said. "I think part of the issue is people would like to be eased into understanding more clearly, but we don't know. So I can't help anybody on that. If I could I would. So we have to go play."

And one thing Carroll hates is discussing polls, especially when USC debuted at No. 14 in the BCS rankings, an almost unfathomable ranking three weeks ago.

"The fact that right now wherever we are in the polls and all that, this is the middle of the season," Carroll said. "There's a lot of teams that lost last weekend that weren't supposed to lose in everybody's opinions, and that's going to continue to happen. As that does, opportunities open up.

"And because we have a loss right now, you don't know where we're going to finish. I don't know yet. I know this: We need to play really well this weekend and get our game won and then continue to grow."

Carroll also likes to point out USC had narrow victories over Washington and Arizona State last season at the Coliseum. He even showed the Trojans clips of last year's games to illustrate how tough the Pacific-10 Conference race would become.

"I don't think you remember what happened last year," Carroll said. "Last year against Washington, we won 26-20 and they had the ball (on the 15-yard line) at the end of the game.

"If you look back and you think of all of the games last year, you think we won 10 games and we rolled right through it. We didn't at all. We fought every single game, particularly in the conference, to get those wins."

There was, of course, a difference. USC narrowly beat Washington and Arizona State but was ahead the whole way in each game. Against Arizona last weekend, the Trojans needed a fourth-quarterback comeback to win. And they actually blew the lead against Stanford.

"I will remind you that in the Stanford game we were ahead 9-0 at halftime. We were shutting them out and winning," Carroll said. "We hadn't turned the ball over and all that. We ended up turning the ball over five times in the second half, and there are reasons for that and that's how they got their win.

"If we do that this week it'll happen the same way, too. We won't be able to win. The margin is very close right now."

So is the fans' patience.

"I just let them say what they want to say," safety Taylor Mays said. "We know what we're capable of doing."

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) USC players enter the field before their game against Arizona on Oct. 13.

Donald Miralle (Getty Images)

(2) USC fans were forced to sweat it out during a 20-13 come-from-behind win last week over Arizona at the Coliseum.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer