A Merry Christmas in Hawaii?

USC has its sights on the Aloha Bowl, a very real prospect now that the Trojans have qualified for a bowl bid with their sixth victory of the season.

The key is for Arizona State to win its final game against Arizona--but not reach the Rose Bowl--and become a hometown pick for the alliance’s Fiesta Bowl.

If that happens, USC can go to the Aloha Bowl even if it doesn’t beat UCLA next week--and in what could be an enormous quirk of fate, there’s a chance former USC coach Larry Smith’s Missouri team could end up as the Big 12 representative in the Dec. 25 game.

Christmas Day in Hawaii is the choice of the Trojan players and their coaches--including defensive coordinator Keith Burns.

“He comes in every day, telling us the temperature in Hawaii, whether it’s raining or not,” linebacker Chris Claiborne said.

The Aloha Bowl gets the fourth pick in the Pacific 10--not necessarily the fourth-place team--after the Rose, the Cotton and the Sun Bowls. USC is currently fifth in the standings, so it needs Arizona State to be an alliance pick.

Should USC win and Washington lose next week, the Dec. 31 Sun Bowl would get first pick if Arizona State goes to the Fiesta. If that happened and Arizona State didn’t go to the Fiesta, the Aloha would choose between Washington and USC.

If the Trojans aren’t picked by one of the bowls that have agreements with the Pac-10, they could fall into the open berth in the Las Vegas Bowl against a Western Athletic Conference team, or be picked for a bowl with an opening such as the Copper, Independence, Liberty or Motor City bowls.

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Oregon State defensive back Byron Lane emerged with only a bruised back after a scary scene following the second-half kickoff when he was taken from the field in an ambulance after being moved gingerly.

“They said it was good news. I heard he was walking around the hospital,” Oregon State Coach Mike Riley said.

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Cornerback Daylon McCutcheon’s two-way role ended up being fairly small against Oregon State. He had one reception for 11 yards and one carry for a loss of a yard, and participated in only a handful of offensive plays.