Defense makes the adjustments

USC Coach Pete Carroll said before the season that the Trojans’ defense was faster than any unit he had coached at the school.

The defense, however, at times appeared slow to adapt from the traditional 4-3 to a 3-4 scheme in the first seven games.

That is no longer the case, as the Trojans made abundantly clear in their last three victories.

“The attitude of our kids, which is a very tough aggressive group of guys, is really starting to surface and is a big factor in the way they’re playing,” Carroll said Sunday.

The night before, USC’s speed and aggressiveness was on display again in a 23-9 victory over California. The Trojans earned their fifth consecutive Pacific 10 Conference title and, at worst, a berth in the Rose Bowl.

“We have a young defense and this was a point of maturation,” senior linebacker Oscar Lua said after the game. “These younger guys

On Sunday, USC remained third in the Bowl Championship Series standings behind No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Michigan. The Trojans displaced Michigan, a 42-39 loser against Ohio State on Saturday, at No. 2 in the Harris and coaches’ polls, which figure in the BCS formula and could play into USC’s favor if the Trojans beat Notre Dame on Saturday and UCLA on Dec. 2.

“We have no say in this thing other than to play well, and we’ll find out what happens,” Carroll said.

USC enters its game against Notre Dame at the Coliseum coming off impressive defensive performances against Stanford, Oregon and Cal. The Trojans gave up only 19 points and two touchdowns in those games.

USC is ranked 11th nationally in scoring defense (14.2 points a game), 13th in rushing defense (92 yards a game) and 21st in total defense (288.6 yards a game).

“We’re starting to come around, we’re playing with a real consistency,” Carroll said.

Sophomore safety Kevin Ellison set the tone early against Cal when he walloped receiver DeSean Jackson while breaking up a pass play, sending the dazed speedster to the sideline.

“We’re trying to play physical and tough in all phases of our game so when you get a good illustration of that it pumps everybody up,” Carroll said.

Freshman safety Taylor Mays intercepted a pass thrown by Cal quarterback Nate Longshore and junior defensive end Lawrence Jackson forced Longshore to fumble in the first half.

After USC tied the score, 9-9, in the third quarter, Lua and junior nose tackle Sedrick Ellis made stops on consecutive short-yardage plays that forced Cal to punt.

“They’ve grown a lot over the year and are hitting their stride,” Cal Coach Jeff Tedford said of the Trojans’ defense.

Now USC faces an experienced Notre Dame team led by senior quarterback Brady Quinn. The Fighting Irish, fifth in the BCS standings, average 33 points and nearly 400 yards of offense a game.

“We’ve grown and we’ve learned and we like what’s going on,” Carroll said. “And we hope it keeps going.”

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Time staff writer David Wharton contributed to this report.

gary.klein@latimes.com