WHAT YOU SAW, OR MAYBE DIDN'T, WAS USC IN A FOG.

Byline: STEVE DILBECK

CORVALLIS, Ore. - That was the strangest game I ever saw, or half-saw, or mostly saw.

It was like trying to watch a game through a fogged up windshield. You kept looking for the defrost button.

You could say I watched the game in a fog, but that hardly made me unique Saturday night at Oregon State.

The fog hung heavy over Reser Stadium, or at least that part you could view, giving the entire game an abnormal sensation, like all the elements were conspiring for a stunning upset of the unbeaten Trojans.

Freezing cold - hail, rain, rain - in Washington last week, the Trojans could handle.

A few low clouds - OK, a never-ending stream of clouds - and the Trojans became all discombobulated.

They looked confused, rattled by the mist. Players dropped balls. USC had the wrong number of players on the field. People ran into each other, or possibly, off the fog.

The offense looked like it was trying to play blindfolded - 11 guys feeling their way through Reser Stadium.

The fog settled into the entire area with the setting sun, and by game time the people sitting on one side of the stadium couldn't see those on the other.

It gave the game an eerie presence, like a thousand Hollywood fog machines run amok. You half waited for the dark-figured guy to emerge with a bloody ax in his hands.

With Oregon State dressed in its home orange-and-black colors, the only thing missing was playing the game Sunday on Halloween.

If the view was better from on the field, there was still an unnatural feel to the entire evening. Odd pieces falling into place for an ... upset?

The Beavers appeared ready to play their role.

If the Trojans, feeling all mighty with their unbeaten streak and No. 1 ranking, were taking the Beavers a tad lightly, it was a serious mistake.

The Beavers came in 4-4, but all four losses were against teams ranked in the top 25 - at No. 17 LSU, at No. 16 Boise State, at No. 23 Arizona State and against No. 4 Cal.

Pete Carroll tried to convince his Trojans to take the Beavers seriously, since they had won their past three games and are typically tough at home.

And if in their little heart of hearts they knew Carroll was correct, they still looked like a team having trouble staying focused for the Beavers.

Or at least finding them.

Reggie Bush fumbled a punt in their first quarter, OSU recovered at the USC 18 and that led to a field goal.

USC's offense, apparently having trouble navigating through the soup, went three-and-out for the second consecutive time, and with quarterback Derek Anderson throwing darts through the fog, the Beavers drove to a second field goal and a 6-0 lead.

The Trojans' offense continued to play like they were into this Halloween theme, as if masquerading as the Washington Huskies.

When Anderson found Marcel Love for an 8-yard touchdown in the second quarter, it was 13-0 Oregon State and things were getting plain spooky.

The fog broke briefly in the second quarter, and lo and behold, there was another half to Reser Stadium.

That must have motivated the Trojans, who finally put together a real drive, tight end Dominique Byrd pulling down a beautiful one-handed 18-yard touchdown pass from Matt Leinart.

The fog came rolling back, and the results of play from afar continued to be a guessing game.

Receivers would disappear into the haze as the ball was thrown.

``Did he catch that?'' was the most frequently heard comment of the night in the press box.

At least the Beavers had the Trojans' attention now, and another touchdown pass to Byrd put USC up 14-13.

Turnovers made it less than a brilliant effort by either team, but when Bush returned a punt 65 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter to put the Trojans up 21-13, at least things appeared to be returning to a planet not controlled by Rod Serling.

The fog wasn't lifted, but something really, really strange like USC's dreams of a second consecutive national championship ending against a .500 team in a game hard to see, were at least vanishing.

LenDale White added another touchdown on a 5-yard run, and the guy with the ax had slipped back into the fog.