His big brother saw the end zone again before halftime. Moevao’s pass was nearly intercepted by USC cornerback Kevin Thomas, but the ball was tipped into the hands of James Rodgers to make it 21-0.

USC answered on its first series of the second half with Sanchez’s 26-yard scoring pass to Ronald Johnson.

Sanchez found wide-open receiver Damien Williams, who sprinted down the sideline — and narrowly avoided Laybourn’s efforts to push him out of bounds — to narrow it to 21-14 with 2:56 left in the third quarter.

The Beavers squandered a chance to add to the lead midway through the fourth when they tried for a field goal, but Sean Sehnem’s 41-yard attempt was blocked.

The Beavers opened this season with two losses, at Stanford and Penn State, before returning home for a victory over Hawaii.

Despite their struggles, the Beavers had seen steady growth on offense and the emergence of Jacquizz Rodgers, who went into the game against the Trojans as the nation’s leading freshman rusher with 87.7 yards per game.

“For whatever reason we just couldn’t tackle him,” Carroll said. “We’d hit him in the backfield and he’d keep bouncing. Him hiding behind the line of scrimmage was very effective. We had troubles with it all day.”

USC had shown little vulnerability in victories at Virginia and then at home against then-No. 5 Buckeyes. But Carroll noted earlier in the week that the familiarity of Pac-10 play posed a danger.

The Beavers certainly seemed to have the Trojans figured out, holding them to 313 yards total offense. Stafon Johnson was USC’s leading rusher with 48 yards. Williams had six catches for 94 yards.

“The reality of the Pac-10 is obvious,” Carroll said after the game.

USC was without cornerback Shareece Wright, who will miss several games due to a hairline vertebra fracture suffered in the Ohio State game.

Carroll had said Wright was being disciplined after being charged with felony resisting a police officer earlier this month, but would have played against Oregon State had he been cleared medically.

USC has lost three of its last four games in Corvallis.

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