Royster Wants Cape, Football : USC: Trojan tailbacks have been Supermen, he says, and he wants offense to fly with him alone.

USC salvaged a wildly inconsistent September--and maybe its season--by reverting to type, dominating the second half of a 30-14 victory at Oregon.

A loss Saturday night would have dropped USC to 1-3 overall, which would have been its worst start in 30 years, and to 0-2 in the Pacific 10 Conference, which would have all but eliminated the Trojans from the Rose Bowl race.

Still, Coach Larry Smith steadfastly refused to acknowledge any of that before the game.

“When you make it do or die, you put all the pressure on yourself,” he said. “That was the last thing I wanted to do. But I think our guys knew that if you go 1-3, you’re looking down a pretty dark alley.”

In a game that was tied at halftime, 6-6, the Trojans pulled away by scoring 24 consecutive points in the first 22 minutes of the second half, combining a power-running game with a hard-hitting defense.

Sound familiar?

“That was Trojan football,” Smith said. “We said (at halftime) that we were just going to come out and play nose-to-nose football and take it right at them and, defensively, stay after them.

“It wasn’t anything fancy. Our offensive line took charge during the second half and our defense came up with big plays.”

Two touchdowns were scored by tailback Mazio Royster, who seemed to flourish in the role of workhorse, gaining all but 21 of his 132 yards rushing in 21 second-half carries. In his first 100-yard rushing game this season, Royster had a third touchdown nullified by a holding penalty.

Basically, he was the offense. Of USC’s first 27 plays in the second half, all but six were pitchouts or handoffs to Royster.

He welcomed the work, carrying the ball 29 times in all.

“I want to get the feel of the game, and I think I have to be in there on every play to do that,” he said.

Royster had grown tired of splitting time with Deon Strother, who started in place of Royster two weeks ago in a 21-10 victory over Penn State because he was out with a sprained knee. Last week, in a 32-25 loss to Arizona State, Royster carried only 16 times, Strother 10.

“I thought it was an insult to my ability,” Royster said. “To me, the great Trojan tailbacks of the past got the ball, and they were Superman. That’s the idea I got from Charles White, Marcus Allen.

“There was no alternating. John Robinson didn’t (have) Marcus Allen split time. He gave him the ball all the time. That’s how I want it to be. I want to help out the team every way I can, and if I’m not in there, I don’t think the play’s being run to its full capability.

“I want to carry the load--the whole load. This is not SMU with Eric Dickerson and Craig James. This is Tailback U., and I want the carries.”

He got them after Smith challenged him at halftime.

“I told him I was going to give it to him, and I wanted to see him knocking bodies back,” Smith said. “And he did.”

USC’s other touchdown was scored by defensive guard Jason Uhl, who intercepted a pass from his former teammate at Mater Dei High in Santa Ana, Oregon quarterback Danny O’Neil, and returned it 30 yards.

“I feel bad for him,” Uhl, a sophomore backup from Irvine, said of O’Neil, “but I’m happy it happened for me.”

The mood was light in the locker room after USC, following a 1-2 start at the Coliseum, extended its road winning streak to six games.

“I don’t know if it salvages the season,” quarterback Reggie Perry said, “but we feel a lot better. The defense played great (scoring the one touchdown and setting up another with a fumble recovery by linebacker Matt Gee) and the offense moved the ball.”

And freshman Cole Ford kicked three field goals.

“I think we’re starting to find ourselves,” Smith said. “We’re learning how you win games. You take charge and go at the other guy.”

Trojan Notes

USC’s first touchdown was set up by a controversial roughing-the-passer penalty against Oregon’s Matt LaBounty, who hit USC quarterback Reggie Perry as he released a pass that fell incomplete. “I thought they’d called intentional grounding on me,” Perry said. “I didn’t think it was roughing the passer. I thought it was a good, aggressive play.” The penalty gave USC a first down at Oregon’s five-yard line, from which Mazio Royster scored on the next play. . . . USC hasn’t lost on the road since last Sept. 21, when it was beaten by Washington at Seattle, 31-0. . . . USC offensive guard Kris Pollack suffered sprained knee ligaments and will be sidelined three to six weeks.

Oregon quarterback Danny O’Neil played with his right elbow wrapped because of a staph infection.