The Barometer Online

Issue date: 10/23/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Curtis Barnard Junior receiver James Rodgers blocks Arizona defense earlier in the season. The Beavers are undefeated on the road so far this season. Below: The football team runs out of the helmet during a home game earlier this season.

After a week of well-deserved rest, the Oregon State football team gets back on their feet to head south to face the No. 7 USC Trojans and a sold-out crowd at the Coliseum.

According to USC, they are expecting capacity (93,607 people), which is the largest crowd since OSU played them in 2007, where there were 85,713 fans.

"It's a great place to play," junior receiver James Rodgers said. "They have great fans, and it's going to be a great challenge."

The Beavers (4-2, 2-1 Pac-10) have prepared for what could quite possibly be one of the biggest games of their season.

"You want to play against the best teams in the nation, and obviously to play a game here is a good thing, but we just have to execute the way we've been executing at home," sophomore safety Lance Mitchell said. "You want to play against the best to be known as one of the best."

The Trojans faced then-ranked No. 25 Notre Dame last weekend and came out with a tight 34-27 win. USC's only loss this season comes from the upset by Washington, where the Trojans lost 16-13 on Sept. 19.

"It shows us that USC can be beaten," sophomore running back Jacquizz Rodgers said. "We can't live off of what we did last year though."

The Beavers have upset one team this season after they beat the Arizona State Sun Devils 28-17 on Oct. 3 in Tempe, where they hadn't won in over 40 years.

"The thing that I like the most about the first half of the season is that it appears that we've gotten better in the last two games, that we've played better football; we've played better in all phases," head coach Mike Riley said.

Recalling the last match up against USC bodes a similar story. In 2008, the Beavers took down then-ranked No. 1 Trojans 27-21 at Reser Stadium. It was only the second time in history Oregon State had defeated a number one ranked team. Jacquizz Rodgers ran circles around the Trojan defense, scoring two touchdowns and running for 186 yards - then a career high for Rodgers. Jacquizz's brother, James, had two touchdowns receiving as well.

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