USC Even, 3-3, at the Half

Welcome to the Trojan halfway house.

Six games are gone. Six remain.

What will it be, recovery or relapse?

The scene at the Coliseum today is an unlikely one, to say the least.

Stanford (4-2, 4-0) is in first place in the Pacific 10 Conference and talking Rose Bowl, a year after a 3-8 season.

USC (3-3, 1-2), once among the Pac-10 favorites, is struggling to keep its bowl hopes alive after three losses by a total of 11 points--most recently a 25-24 defeat by Notre Dame last week in a game USC had led by 21.

“We’re mad at ourselves because we know we should be undefeated,” linebacker Zeke Moreno said. “We still have six more games. We’ve got to win them all. It’s not impossible. We know we can do it. We just have to go play some football.”

No, it’s not impossible. In fact, the Trojans are favored today against Stanford, by 7 1/2 points, and probably will be favored in all their remaining games.

Whether victory is probable is another question, since USC would have to reverse its pattern of inconsistency and blown second-half leads.

“It’s something we’ve got to get over,” receiver Windrell Hayes said. “We’ve got to put together consistent drives when we’re ahead. We’ve got to start closing.”

Stanford is trying to close in on its first trip to the Rose Bowl since 1972.

The Cardinal is the only team still unbeaten in Pac-10 play, but there are four contenders with only one loss--and a legion of doubters.

That’s because along with a high-octane offense led by quarterback Todd Husak and record-setting receiver Troy Walters, Stanford ranks 110th among 114 Division I-A teams in total defense.

“There is always a concern,” Stanford Coach Tyrone Willingham said. “But at the same time, our defense has been timely, it has made some plays and done some things to put us in position to win.”

That’s what counts, after all.

“They’re a great team,” Moreno said. “They’re 4-0 in the Pac-10. I just don’t want to them to go to 5-0.”

USC has spent the week trying to put the disaster at Notre Dame behind.

“It hurt,” linebacker Markus Steele said. “It was very quiet on the plane. We looked at our mistakes, but we can’t go back to that game. We can only go on to Stanford.

“We can’t allow teams to come back. We need to come back the next six games and blow everybody out.”

Solving the Trojans’ problems might be easier if it were clear exactly what they were.

Sure, USC has blown second-half leads.

But is the problem that the Trojan offense can’t sustain long drives and that the defense wears down?

Or is it the reckless penalties?

The uncharacteristic turnovers?

Or could USC be out of shape, despite Coach Paul Hackett’s belief to the contrary?

“If I had the answer, I would be shouting it from the rooftops,” Hackett said.

One theory is simply that USC has had difficulty managing the challenges of playing on the road, where the Trojans are 1-3, compared to 2-0 at home.

On the other hand, USC allowed San Diego State and Oregon State to come back at the Coliseum too, though both ultimately came up short.

“When you open the season with four out of the first six games on the road, three of which are in tough places to play, you might come up short if you’re not a real strong, strong football team,” Hackett said.

“We were just not able to make the plays we needed to make. It’s about performance. We had opportunities in all three games to make the plays, opportunities in all three games to take hold of the game and win it. In all three of them, we had second-half leads and weren’t able to do it.

“A good contending team, a team that sees itself as being a champion, will win the close games. That has to do with seniors, with the older players stepping up and getting the job done. We have fallen short three times. The heartbreaker, obviously, was the Oregon game because we were so close to it, but that paled compared to the one last Saturday.

“We are not playing consistently. We are not playing well enough. It’s not the effort. . . . It’s just that we’re not able to make the big plays and have the kind of performances we need to when the game is on the line.”

Another one is on the line today, and the season may be too.

“Everybody really wants to win,” tailback Chad Morton said. “We’re all so tired of losing.”

It’s the second half of the season.

Will USC come back, or fold?

USC (3-3) vs. STANFORD (4-2)

12:30 today

at Coliseum

Channel 7

REPORT, Page 4

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UCLA (3-4) at OREGON ST. (3-3)

3:30 today

Channel 9

COVERAGE, Pages 4-5