USC Has to Search for Motivation : Trojans: They face 1-8 Oregon State today, with their postseason plans already set.

Its bowl plans are set. And it still has regular-season games to play against UCLA and Notre Dame, its most bitter rivals.

But up first for USC is today’s game against Oregon State, which is tied for last place in the Pacific 10 and is close to the bottom of the conference in almost every statistical category.

Will motivation be a problem for the Trojans in a game that is expected to draw only about 20,000 fans to Parker Stadium?

Not according to defensive leader, linebacker Scott Ross, who said: “You’ve got to look at it like, it’s great for your statistics if you kick butt.”

USC has beaten up on the Beavers almost from the inception of the series in 1914. Although the Trojans lost the first two games, they have been beaten only five times in 54 games since.

USC has won its last 18 games against Oregon State, since losing to the Beavers in 1967, when a team led by O.J. Simpson was upset, 3-0, at Corvallis. The Trojans recovered from the defeat to win the national championship and routinely swamped the Beavers throughout the 1970s and ‘80s.

Still, Coach Larry Smith said this week: “Oregon State is a team that’s capable of beating any team on its schedule.”

So far this season, the Beavers have beaten one of nine.

They rank eighth in the Pac-10 in rushing offense, ninth in passing offense and last in total offense. They have allowed more sacks than any other team in the conference.

Defensively, they rank last against the run and eighth overall.

“The record speaks for itself,” Coach Dave Kragthorpe said. “We’re disappointed. There were some games early that we should have won--if you look at things (beforehand) and try to predict games that you should win. . . .

“Lately, it’s been very frustrating because I honestly feel that we could have won at UCLA. I also feel that we could have won at Arizona State. I say that because we were in very, very good shape at halftime of both games, playing solidly.”

The Beavers also were in good shape at halftime against Nebraska, leading the Cornhuskers, 7-3. Oregon State lost, 31-7. Against UCLA two weeks ago at the Rose Bowl, the Beavers trailed at halftime, 16-14, before losing, 26-17. Last week at Arizona State, they trailed at halftime, 10-6, before losing, 34-9.

The one team the Beavers did beat was Arizona, which upset USC at the Coliseum, 35-26, a week later.

Oregon State’s nose tackle, 6-foot-3, 268-pound Esera Tuaolo, is one of the best in college football. A senior from Don Lugo High School in Chino, he was the defensive lineman of the year in the Pac-10 last season and is a probable NFL first-round draft choice.

“He’s one of the best football players in the country, and they’ve got him over our youngest player, so we’re a little concerned about that matchup,” Smith said.

Tuaolo, still rounding into shape after missing the first three games with a sprained knee, will line up against center Craig Gibson, a redshirt freshman.

Oregon State’s starting quarterback is expected to be Fred Schweer, a redshirt freshman from Woodbridge High School in Irvine.

Schweer was the starter in the Beavers’ 35-21 victory over Arizona, directing three long scoring drives and throwing a touchdown pass. He started against UCLA but had to leave the game with an elbow injury and hasn’t played since.

Trojan Notes

A USC victory would be Coach Larry Smith’s 100th as a major college coach. He is 99-65-5 in more than 14 seasons at Tulane, Arizona and USC. . . . The Trojans and Beavers won’t meet again until 1993.

Oregon State led the Pac-10 in passing in the first three of Coach Dave Kragthorpe’s five seasons in Corvallis, but the Beavers slipped to eighth last season. This season and last, Oregon State has run more than it has passed. . . . Oregon State’s Dwayne Owens, a walk-on transfer from American River College in Sacramento, averages 157.3 yards a game to rank third in the Pac-10 in all-purpose running. He is a nephew of James Owens, a former UCLA running back and hurdler.