TROJANS THINKING ABOUT MORE THAN JUST STREAKING PAST BRUINS.

Byline: MATTHEW KREDELL Staff Writer

Rocky Seto remembers the chant, each word magnifying the USC reserve linebacker's disappointment as he walked off the Rose Bowl field once again a loser in the crosstown rivalry as a senior in 1998.

``Eight more years!'' shouted the Bruins' faithful. ``Eight more years!''

Though it might seem like forever that USC has dominated the battle for Los Angeles, the Trojans need to beat UCLA on Saturday to match the eight-game winning streak that the Bruins put up right before USC began its current run.

``The pains of the past helped me appreciate the present, that's for sure,'' said Seto, now the secondary coach at USC.

Seto is the only USC coach who was involved with the Trojans during the Bruins' stretch of domination.

All USC players know is beating UCLA. Only seniors or redshirt juniors had a teammate that experienced a loss to the Bruins.

``It would be fun to be able to say we beat them eight in a row and give us something to look back on someday,'' linebacker Dallas Sartz said. ``But that doesn't really apply to our accomplishments this year and what our plans are.''

For USC, this game is not about completing its revenge by equaling the Bruins' streak. The rivalry has taken a backseat during the Trojans' spectacular five-year run as a national-title contender.

The Trojans have more important aspirations than just beating the Bruins and having city bragging rights. Beating UCLA would be the final step on the road to making the BCS championship game for the third consecutive year.

Some players don't even know that UCLA beat USC eight times in a row before the Trojans went on their seven-year run.

USC has handled UCLA so easily of late, it's difficult for the players and coaches to look at the Bruins as a rival, outside of the schools' proximity to each other.

As the Trojans have gone national in recruiting, there are fewer players who appreciate the rivalry from having grown up in Los Angeles. Many players see UCLA as just another game.

``I don't know as much about the rivalry as others, I want to beat them just to beat them,'' said defensive lineman Brian Cushing, who is from New Jersey. ``That's what I'm focused on, and that's what I think the team is looking at. It's not about streaks or anything. We want to beat UCLA, finish off agood season and see where we align in terms of a bowl game.''

Matching UCLA's series-best streak is not motivation USC coaches are using on their players this week.

``It probably means something to the fans, but we don't think about it,'' offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin said. ``It's totally irrelevant and has nothing to do with how we talk to the players or how we prepare.''

Seto doesn't tell the team his horror stories about losing to the Bruins over and over again. He figures they don't want to hear it. After all, they were in junior high or elementary school the last time UCLA beat the Trojans.

But he'd take a little extra satisfaction in beating the Bruins for the eighth time in a row, remembering back to that chant.

``I can't really relate with it,'' said head coach Pete Carroll, who is 5-0 against UCLA. ``But it would be kind of nice for all the people who had to suffer through those eight losing years.''

[e-mail]

[phone]