STRANGE, NEW WORLD FOR USC STARRY-EYED HOPES ARE DASHED IN LOSS.

Byline: STEVE DILBECK

And now to enter a strange, new world.

One of lowered expectations. A foreign place, one where others dwelled but USC had taken to viewing from a distance, with a certain unspoken smugness.

In this land, teams do not battle for national championships. They scratch and claw and hope to make a nice bowl. Hope to crack the top 10, to be viewed as one of the country's best college football programs and not its pre-eminent one.

USC lost Saturday, fallen 33-31 to a good but not great Oregon State team in Corvallis, Ore.

It was more than just some simple loss, however. It was a loss that confirmed what a nation had increasingly come to suspect -- these Trojans do not resemble the great USC teams of recent seasons.

In an afternoon that was somehow both stunning and predictable, a USC team that had flirted and teased defeat for weeks, that had tiptoed along a slippery edge against Arizona State and Washington and Washington State, finally tumbled against the 4-4 Beavers.

USC is no longer perfect. No longer in prime position to contend for a national title. No longer quite as special and golden and almost otherworldly.

A nation that had raised eyebrows over narrow USC victories, that had ranked the Trojans third in the country, will now wonder if it's even the third-best team in its conference.

Understand, USC will be punished mightily in the polls, maybe even unfairly so. When you've been at the top so long, some grow quietly resentful of continued success.

So expect USC to drop so far in the national polls that dreams of still becoming a one-loss team in the Bowl Championship Series national championship game will immediately seem remote.

USC will fall behind West Virginia, Texas, Auburn, Florida and Louisville. Maybe even behind Tennessee, Cal and Notre Dame.

Too far and too many teams to overcome for USC to repeat its one-loss national title of 2003, when it fell to Cal early in the season and then finished with a flurry that heralded its great run.

``You never know,'' USC coach Pete Carroll said in Corvallis. ``To think that would be a mistake. It just gets harder. It depends on how we'll finish, so we'll see what happens.''

They will watch from a fresh and undesired position.

That is not to say USC still cannot have a special season. Cannot win out, capture the Pac-10 title and play in the Rose Bowl.

But these had become second-rung ambitions around Heritage Hall, where national championship runs and Heisman Trophies suddenly seemed a Cardinal and Gold birthright since the arrival of Carroll.

USC still has three ranked opponents -- Cal, Oregon and nonconference rival Notre Dame -- on its schedule. If it wins out, it will still advance as the conference champion with a victory over Cal.

Yet USC's aura is diminished now. Other conference teams that had hopes of beating USC will now actually believe they can.

The Trojans had not just won 27 consecutive conference games but did it with an air about them that separated them from other teams.

With Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush and LenDale White, they were not just a top team, but a super team. A team that lost superstars and replaced them with other top national recruits.

Only this team now seems very mortal. Has ached as it has tried to grow, taken steps both forward and backward, encouraged and frustrated.

John David Booty, criticized through USC's first six games for failing to deliver big plays and games, Saturday threw for 406 yards, three touchdowns and lost.

After USC trailed 33-10, Booty engineered a marvelous comeback. It scored three consecutive touchdowns, the third coming on a 2-yard touchdown pass to Steve Smith with seven seconds to play.

USC lined up for a two-point conversion. Briefly, USC appeared to have its old magic. A successful conversion and it was overtime. USC seemed on a familiar and powerful roll.

Only Booty turned left to look for wideout Dwayne Jarrett and Oregon State defensive lineman Jeff Van Orsow leaped over his block. A pump fake and Orsow comes to Earth and perhaps Booty finds Jarrett open.

Instead, the pass is released, Orsow deflects it harmlessly to the ground and USC's 18-game winning streak on the road comes to an end.

USC had finally fallen on play short.

There finally was no last-second heroics, no memorable victory, no storied comeback.

Four turnovers and a slow start did USC in. In seasons past, USC lived off other team's turnovers. Now it loses a game because of them. It's uncharacteristic, it's alien, it's their new world.

Seven games into its 2006 season, the Trojans still struggle to find an identity, to find their place in a new national order that no longer places gifts at their feet.

``I think we were ready for them,'' Beavers receiver Joe Newton said. ``I don't think we were in awe of them. ... We definitely respected them, but we knew we could play with them.''

That's how it will be now in the Pac-10. Lose to Oregon State and everyone starts to believe.

Yet USC can still go 11-1. Unbeatens Ohio State and Michigan still have to meet, as do West Virginia and Louisville. Strange things are still possible.

Only for the Trojans to travel this unlikely path will take a return from a place they haven't been in years. A good team struggling, if almost burdened with, trying to grow into greatness.

stephen.dilbeck(at)dailynews.com

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CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) USC head coach Pete Carroll, right, congratulates Oregon State head coach Mike Riley after the Beavers beat the Trojans on Saturday.

Rick Browmer/Associated Press

(2 -- color) Trojans John David Booty, right, and Antwine Perez walk off the field after losing to Oregon State, 33-31, on Saturday.

Don Ryan/Associated Press