USC might also have to turn to a backup quarterback. Booty cracked the middle finger on his throwing hand when he hit it on a helmet in the second quarter.

“He fought through it and was doing all right,” Carroll said. “We could have made a change but we went with our guy. I don’t know about next week.”

The Trojans (4-1, 2-1) dropped from No. 1 to No. 2 in the AP Top 25 after barely holding on for a 27-24 victory over underdog Washington in Seattle last weekend. They’ll drop a lot more this week after losing to a team that had been outscored 141-51 in Pac-10 play.

USC’s 35-game winning streak at the Coliseum is over. The Trojans hadn’t lost at home since Stanford beat them 21-16 on Sept. 29, 2001, in their first year under Carroll.

The Trojans rolled up 459 yards to just 235 for Stanford. But USC’s five turnovers and Pannel Egboh’s block of USC kicker David Buehler’s PAT attempt early in the game proved decisive.

Booty went 24-of-40 for 364 yards, but in the end, that wasn’t enough. Patrick Turner caught nine passes for 83 yards and Fred Davis had five receptions for 152 yards. USC netted only 95 yards rushing.

“I felt some pressure from their defense during the game, and at the end, had some urgency and forced some things,” Booty said. “Now, we have to put it behind us.”

Leading 9-0, the Trojans were booed off the field at halftime.

“That’s football,” Booty said. “Expectations are higher here than anywhere else. Heck, inside, I was booing, too. If you don’t meet those expectations, you’re going to get booed.”

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The Cardinal trimmed USC’s lead to 16-14 on the first play of the fourth quarter when Anthony Kimble scored on a 1-yard run, capping a 75-yard drive.

Booty threw a 47-yard touchdown pass to freshman Ronald Johnson less than four minutes later to give the Trojans some room. But it wouldn’t last. Derek Belch, whose conversion provided the margin of victory, kicked a 26-yard field goal with 5:43 remaining to put the Cardinal within striking range.

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The Trojans finally put together a cohesive drive the fifth time they had the ball, moving 64 yards on eight plays and taking a 9-0 lead on Chauncey Washington’s 1-yard run.

USC threatened again on its next possession, but Nick Sanchez tackled Washington short of the goal line on a fourth-and-goal play with 8 seconds left in the half. In hindsight, a chip-shot field goal would have helped.

It appeared Booty and intended receiver Stanley Havili weren’t on the same page on third-and-1 when safety Austin Yancy made his first career interception and ran 31 yards for a touchdown early in the third quarter to make it 9-7.

USC turned the ball over on its next two possessions before Booty and Davis hooked up on a 63-yard scoring play on third-and-2 late in the quarter, giving the Trojans a 16-7 lead.

It wouldn’t hold up.

“After tonight, we don’t care who we play,” Stanford linebacker Clinton Snyder said. “We now know the only people who can beat us is us. This was a huge step for us to show our program is back.”

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