USC NOTEBOOK: THEY'RE STILL BUZZING OVER TAILBACK MORTON.

Byline: Scott Wolf Daily News Staff Writer

Sophomore Chad Morton missed Tuesday's USC football practice with the flu, but he continued to be the Trojans' most-talked-about player after his starring role against Stanford.

Morton, who was switched from free safety to tailback, gained 109 yards and once again raised speculation about why he wasn't moved to the backfield sooner.

``We felt like the best overall decision for Chad was to move him to defense,'' USC coach John Robinson said. ``Don't know whether that was the right decision or not. On offense he couldn't carry the ball 20 times a game and probably couldn't get through two practices during the week at tailback without taking too much of a beating.''

Morton, who slightly injured his hamstring against Stanford, is expected to play this week.

Soward gets MRI: Wide receiver R. Jay Soward missed practice after undergoing a magnetic-resonance imaging test for a bruised knee, Robinson said.

Soward bruised the knee against Washington and Robinson said the test was to make sure there was no blood on the knee.

Soward is one of several players nursing minor injuries. Cornerback Daylon McCutcheon has been bothered by back spasms and is taking muscle relaxants.

Offensive tackle Travis Claridge suffered a slight pull in his hamstring but was OK.

Defensive back Ken Haslip (hamstring) is out for the Oregon State game.

Tailback LaVale Woods (sprained ankle) returned to practice in pads, but Robinson said he would probably hold him out of the Oregon State game. ``I don't think you want to play a kid on AstroTurf (with his injury),'' the coach said.

Robinson said Woods has also been bothered by the flu and was briefly hospitalized over the weekend.

Van Raaphorst update: Robinson said quarterback Mike Van Raaphorst will miss the final two games, a stronger statement than the freshman has made regarding his badly sprained ankle.

``His first game will be an intramural game in March or sometime like that,'' Robinson said. ``He's out for awhile. He might make a bowl game.''

New left tackle? Robinson praised the play of left tackle Rome Douglas against Stanford. Douglas started in place of Phalen Pounds, who had the flu. Douglas worked out with the first team Tuesday, although Pounds returned to practice.

Rotating line: In an effort to keep the defensive line fresh, USC has begun rotating players every other series. Cedric Jefferson, Marc Matock, George Perry and Sultan Abdul-Malik are the first unit, with Ennis Davis, Aaron Williams and Lawrence Larry and Jason Steen rotating into the game.

``Our linemen were playing three snaps at a time, and the Stanford guys were saying, `Oh, geez,' '' Robinson said. ``You can see how difficult it is to come back once you fall behind unless you get the defense tired.''

Bucking history: Oregon State has lost 23 straight games to USC, with the last Beavers victory a 3-0 win in the mud in 1967.

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Photo: CHAD MORTON: Concerns about his durability discouraged USC from using him full-time at tailback earlier.