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Pete Carroll figures to have No. 1 USC fired up when the Trojans play at No. 14 Nebraska on Saturday night.

From the shotgun

• Notre Dame has now gone 10 quarters without scoring an offensive touchdown. Just imagine how much worse it would be if Charlie Weis wasn’t an offensive genius.
  
• You can pretty much count out Pat White and Steve Slaton for Heisman consideration, but only because they both seem destined to have superb individual seasons and therefore will split the West Virginia vote.
  
• I understand why Rutgers schedules non-conference foes like Buffalo and Norfolk State. It’s a program that is just now building itself into a power, so it should proceed slowly. But what is Florida’s excuse for scheduling Western Kentucky, Troy and Florida Atlantic?
  
• Lloyd Carr is a maize-and-blue version of John Cooper.
  
• The reason Steve Spurrier has been so quiet and humble since taking over at South Carolina is because the program wasn’t up to the level of more accomplished SEC rivals. But look for the needle to come out any minute now, after the Gamecocks knocked off Georgia and earned a place in the AP Top 25, coming in at No. 17.
  
• Forget Michigan and Notre Dame. Is there a major program in the country that is in more of a free fall than Syracuse? The problem there is nobody wants that job.
  
• Come on, you can admit it: When Lee Corso works a Florida game and puts on a Gator head to indicate who he believes will win, don’t you wish somebody would substitute it for a real alligator?

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