Fourth Straight Victory Returns Trojans to No. 3

USC’s first victory at Washington since 1983, coupled with Georgia’s unimpressive win over Alabama Birmingham, propelled the Trojans up two spots to No. 3 in the Associated Press poll on Sunday.

USC returned to the spot it occupied before the Trojans were upset by California in triple overtime on Sept. 27 at Berkeley.

USC has won four consecutive games since the defeat to improve to 7-1 overall and 3-1 in the Pacific 10 Conference.

The Trojans play sixth-ranked Washington State on Saturday at the Coliseum, where USC has won 12 consecutive games.

“It will be really fun to be playing at home,” said USC Coach Pete Carroll, whose team played four of its last five games on the road. “I’m sure the place is going to be rocking. We should light up the Coliseum.”

A turnover-plagued performance in a 36-30 victory over Oregon State prevented Washington State from moving into the top five, but Carroll characterized the Cougars as the Trojans’ toughest opponent.

“This is our best challenge to date,” Carroll said.

Despite the departure of longtime coach Mike Price and quarterback Jason Gesser, Washington State (7-1, 4-0) has maintained its level of last season, when the Cougars shared the conference title with USC and played in the Rose Bowl. The Cougars would be undefeated under Coach Bill Doba if not for a season-opening overtime defeat at Notre Dame.

Last season, Washington State defeated the Trojans, 30-27, in overtime at Pullman, Wash. The defeat cost the Trojans an outright conference title and a trip to the Rose Bowl.

“It really altered the outcome of our entire season,” fullback Brandon Hancock said. “We definitely have kind of a chip on our shoulders.”

The Trojans, apparently, aren’t the only ones bearing a grudge.

Washington State defensive end Issac Brown fired off a salvo Saturday after the Cougars’ victory over Oregon State.

Brown, who is from Upland, intimated that USC’s defensive line was overrated.

“If you want to hold them up to the gold standard, go ahead,” Brown told the Seattle Times. “But we’ll see who the best defensive line is in the Pac-10 next week.”

Brown pointed out that Washington State led the conference in sacks the last two seasons and finished in the top 10 nationally in rushing defense in 2002. He predicted that the Cougars would do the same this year.

“But I think they get a lot of hype because they’re USC,” he said.

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Carroll said cornerback Ronald Nunn, who suffered a broken bone in his eye socket, would be examined early this week. Carroll would not speculate about how long Nunn would be sidelined.

Justin Wyatt played in place of Nunn after moving from receiver to cornerback during practice last week. He made two tackles.

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Carroll said receiver Mike Williams was treated Sunday for a high ankle sprain that limited his effectiveness against Washington. Williams is expected to play against Washington State.... Carroll said he was aware of an exchange on the sidelines between Williams and kicker Ryan Killeen, who missed two field-goal attempts and had one extra-point kick blocked. “It’s not an issue,” Carroll said. “I’m not worried about it one bit.” Carroll said Killeen’s job was not in jeopardy. However, he acknowledged that Killeen has struggled kicking on artificial surfaces this season and said the Trojans would take steps to ensure they could practice on artificial surfaces in the future.... Linebacker Matt Grootegoed, who sat out the Washington game because of a high ankle sprain, will not practice until Wednesday, but is expected to be available against Washington State, Carroll said.