USC FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK: READY FOR ROLE IN THE STRETCH.

Byline: SCOTT WOLF Staff Writer

Even USC coach Pete Carroll watched a bit of Sunday's Bowl Championship Series rankings announcement, which is fitting because the No. 7-ranked Trojans still have a role to play.

Whether they help themselves or other teams is the question.

The Trojans (7-1, 5-1 Pac-10) need some help to move up the BCS standings but have the toughest final month of any team in the nation and get an extraordinary opportunity to impress poll voters.

USC begins the real part of its schedule now, with four games left against its marquee opponents: The Trojans host No.21-ranked Oregon, No.8- ranked California and No.9-ranked Notre Dame and conclude at UCLA.

``Before the season started, you looked at those games and we knew it was a hard stretch but with most games at home,'' Carroll said.

Cal and Notre Dame hope USC can fuel their own national championship aspirations. But if USC wins out, it hopes to make the case it is the strongest one-loss team in the nation.

That might not matter if Louisville and one Big Ten team (Ohio State or Michigan) are undefeated, but that's still to be determined.

``I always just let the games play out,'' said Carroll, after three straight years of playing a major role in the BCS scenarios.

The next opponent, Oregon, does hold one distinction for Carroll. It is the only Pacific-10 Conference team that has not lost to USC during the Trojans' 30-game winning streak at the Coliseum. Oregon lost to USC in 2000, before Carroll arrived, and three subsequent meetings were all in Eugene.

``It is forever,'' Carroll said. ``I remember watching the film of the last time they were down here.''

That film would not help today, because Oregon runs a different offense.

Carroll spent Sunday watching the Ducks' spread offense, which frequently uses a shotgun formation.

``They get about 30 or 40 yards rushing per game from the quarterback, and that makes them different from every other team in the conference,'' Carroll said.

That's a stark contrast to the lack of offense provided by Stanford against the Trojans.

The fact Stanford is 0-9 did not diminish Carroll's view of the Trojans' 42-0 victory.

``If you play good solid football, it helps you,'' he said. ``We got a lot of good stuff done.''

Also: Linebacker Keith Rivers has a sore knee but is expected to be OK. Otherwise, there were no injuries.

``We're as healthy as we've been all year,'' Carroll said. ...

USC's blocked field goal that was returned for a touchdown against Stanford was the Trojans' first since 2001.

That also came against Stanford, when Chris Cash blocked the field goal, and Kris Richard ran 65 yards for a touchdown. ...

Carroll said after the game kicker Troy Van Blarcom was bothered by a sore groin.

``It threw his timing off,'' Carroll said. ``I didn't find out until afterward.''

However, Van Blarcom's said his groin did not bother him in games, only in practices.

Nevertheless, Carroll said he will have backup kicker David Buehler compete for the job in practice this week.

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USC 42, STANFORD 0