USC (2-1, 0-1) vs. Oregon State (3-0, 0-0)

* Kickoff: 3:30 p.m. at Coliseum, Fox Sports West 2.

* Story line: The Trojans have to get their house in order with Mike Van Raaphorst taking over for injured Carson Palmer at quarterback and their penalty-plagued triple-overtime loss to Oregon still painfully recent. Oregon State hasn’t beaten USC since 1967.

* USC update: Van Raaphorst has looked both terrific and terrible at times, so USC has its fingers crossed for terrific. But if a team has to hand its season over to a backup, it might as well be one who has started 10 games. The running game is a concern, with teams stacking their defenses to stop it, but nothing outweighs the real crisis: USC leads the Pacific 10 with 47 penalties for 393 yards after only three games.

* Oregon State update: The Beavers are unbeaten coming into the USC game for the second year in a row, but the victories are over Nevada, Fresno State and Georgia Southern. New Coach Dennis Erickson has the players believing in themselves, and running back Ken Simonton is thriving in Erickson’s one-back offense, leading the nation in rushing at almost 186 yards a game. One detail worth remembering: USC’s 40-20 victory last season was a 23-20 game with about two minutes left.

* Edge to USC: But it might be closer than people think.

* Line: USC by 14.