They Had Better Get Used to This Kind of Treatment

USC (whew) is still No. 1 ... so what do you think so far?

The Trojans are on their way home as you read this, thrilled to return after a 24-13, season-opening victory over Virginia Tech in the Black Coaches Assn. Classic that (trust us) was not supposed to be this thrilling.

Saturday’s game at FedEx Field came perilously close to being the rollover in Landover.

First-game jitters?

The weight of off-season distractions nearly catching USC off guard?

Wilting a bit under high expectations?

Answer to all of the above: sure looked that way.

USC trailed, 10-7, after two quarters and Trojan Coach Pete Carroll wasn’t sure what to make of it.

“It was a hard halftime for us,” Carroll said.

Hard as in how?

“Like ‘Uh, oh, maybe this is how it’s going to go,’ ” Carroll said.

USC played so many blowout games late last year that you wondered how the Trojans would react in a hostile environment, on the road, with the humidity index rising and Virginia Tech quarterback Bryan Randall running.

The Trojans prevailed in the end and can only be thankful that Reggie Bush did not make himself available for the NFL draft.

The first-game synopsis in a nutshell: get used to it.

This is the way it’s probably going to be for USC.

The reason only one school since 1950 has ever gone wire-to-wire to win the national title is because it’s really hard.

Virginia Tech wasn’t supposed to be much of a test, right?

Last time we checked, California scored 52 points on the Hokie defense in last year’s Insight Bowl.

For three quarters of Saturday’s game, though, Virginia Tech looked to be No. 1 every bit as much as USC did.

The only difference was that Virginia Tech entered the season unranked in both polls for the first time since 1998.

What happened Saturday is what happens when you’re on top and everyone wants a piece of you.

“This is what being No.1 is all about,” USC linebacker Lofa Tatupu said.

“Teams are going to go out of their minds to beat you because it can change their whole season.”

You suspect it’s going to be that way when Colorado State comes to town on Sept. 11, and when the Trojans travel to Brigham Young on Sept. 18. It’s going to be that way at Washington State and Oregon State.

Virginia Tech fans walked away saying USC was lucky to still be No. 1.

Trailing 10-7 in the third quarter, Hokie receiver Josh Hyman was called for a very questionable offensive interference penalty against Trojan corner Ronald Nunn.

“I don’t know how you saw it but I thought it was kind of questionable,” Virginia Tech Coach Frank Beamer later lamented.

Instead of first and 10 at the USC 12-yard line, Virginia Tech was pushed back to its own 41, lost five yards in three plays, and eventually had to punt.

It took two plays for the Trojans to score on their next possession and take the lead back, 14-10.

Did the Trojans get lucky?

You bet, but luck plays a part in nearly every championship run.

In 1997, Nebraska won a share of the national title when a receiver caught a touchdown pass off a teammate’s foot.

In 1998, Tennessee won the national title because an Arkansas quarterback, needing only to fall on the ball and run out the clock, fumbled without being touched, opening the door for the Volunteers to score the game-winning touchdown.

In winning it all in 2002, Ohio State won so many last-minute games it was almost funny. The Buckeyes then beat Miami in the Fiesta Bowl, in double overtime, on one of the most debatable penalties ever called.

In college football, a sport with no exhibition season and no playoff, luck is good and many times it’s necessary.

If you are USC, you need to simply thank the football gods and take your victory to the bank.

USC did, eventually, play with resolve.

When it counted, USC showed poise. The defense found a way to corral Randall, who hurt the Trojans all game with ad-lib runs.

Quarterback Matt Leinart started out wobbly but was better in the end.

The receiving corps, without Mike Williams, was predictably shaky.

The offense -- except for three lightning bolt touchdowns to Bush -- appeared out of sync.

The good news is that, in the annals of history, no one is going to care how the Trojans won or how they almost didn’t.

Looking back, 24-13 is all that’s going to matter.

Any voting writer or coach who may not have been impressed with USC’s opening victory is going to have to hold his thoughts because the next polls won’t even be released until after the games of Sept. 4.

“It’s a great lesson for our team,” Carroll said. “We really believe you’ve got to win games in the fourth quarter, and tonight we had to.”

In terms of publicity, the Trojans had one heck of a preseason.

The Trojans found out Saturday that the preseason is over.

“Put all the magazines away,” defensive tackle Mike Patterson said. “Put away the papers and the rankings. We’ve got to focus on us and what we’ve got to do.”

Saturday, against a team that was looking to shock the Trojans’ world, USC did just enough.