USC Future Thorny, Not Colored by Roses : College football: First things first for inconsistent Trojans, who face problems at Oregon.

USC is not accustomed to falling out of Rose Bowl contention before Halloween, much less the first of October.

But a loss to Oregon tonight would all but eliminate the Trojans from the race, even before UCLA has played a Pacific 10 game.

Four teams from the conference have advanced to the Rose Bowl with two conference losses--Oregon State in 1941, Oregon in 1957, Washington in 1981 and UCLA in 1985--but none opened its conference season 0-2.

USC lost to Arizona State, 32-25, in its Pac-10 opener last Saturday to fall to 1-2 overall for the first time since 1985 and only the second time since 1961. The Trojans haven’t been 0-2 in conference play since 1971; they haven’t been 1-3 overall since 1961.

To avoid their worst start in 30 years, the Trojans will have to end Oregon’s 10-game winning streak at Autzen Stadium, where there is a possibility of a record crowd.

But if Coach Larry Smith senses the urgency of the Trojans’ situation, he has not let on.

“I’m not going to say it’s do-or-die, or we’ve got our backs to the wall,” Smith said.

Smith has taken such a stance, perhaps, because at this point, the Rose Bowl is probably the furthest thing from his mind.

He is more concerned about the slow development of sophomore quarterback Reggie Perry, who has had five passes intercepted while throwing only one touchdown pass.

Smith is perturbed by an inconsistent defense, which was terrific in a 21-10 victory over Penn State but abysmal in the second half of a 24-10 loss to Memphis State and in the first half against Arizona State.

He is distressed by injuries to two key players, fullback Scott Lockwood, who underwent surgery Friday for a knee infection and will miss four to six weeks, and linebacker Willie McGinest, who will be sidelined for a second consecutive week.

And he probably is worried that the confidence of his young team may be eroding.

“We’ve got a lot of things happening that are preventing us from going out and trying to get better,” Smith said. “Unless we can take care of those things, we’re looking at a hell of a long year.”

In its first road game, USC will encounter a frustrated host.

Oregon Coach Rich Brooks said he was embarrassed by a loss last Saturday night to Utah, 24-17, which dropped the Ducks to 2-1 overall.

Oregon opened the season with a 40-14 conference victory over Washington State, then beat Texas Tech, 28-13, at Lubbock, Tex., before falling flat against Utah.

“We were making some very good progress until the nightmare at Salt Lake City,” Brooks said. “I have a hard time explaining what happened, but we were not ready to play and (quarterback) Danny O’Neil played like a redshirt freshman in that contest.”

Two turnovers, including an interception of O’Neil’s first pass, helped Utah score 24 consecutive points in the first 17 minutes, and the Ducks were unable to recover.

“I would have never dreamed we would come out sleepwalking as we did last week,” Brooks said.

He said the Oregon defense, which includes eight starters from last season’s 8-4 team, was “just awful for the first 18 minutes--almost nonexistent.”

In the second half, Utah was limited to 50 yards, 18 by rushing, as the Ducks rallied.

But it was too little, too late, said Brooks, who added that the Ducks would “like to atone for our embarrassing performance.”

At USC’s expense.

Trojan Notes

Since 1971, USC is 12-1-1 against Oregon, the lone loss coming in 1987, when Oregon beat a Rose Bowl-bound Trojan team at Eugene, 34-27. . . . USC and Oregon haven’t met since 1988. . . . Standing-room-only tickets were sold for tonight’s game, and the crowd could approach the stadium record of 46,087.