LOS ANGELES �” Pete Carroll touts Oregon State tailback Jacquizz Rodgers as the second coming of Emmitt Smith. Southern California’s linebackers variously compare the pint-sized sophomore to Barry Sanders, Eric Dickerson and several superheroes.

Yes, Rodgers and the Beavers definitely got the mighty Trojans’ attention last September. That’s rarely been a good thing during Carroll’s tenure at No. 4 USC, however.

“One great thing about our guys is how coachable they are, how willing they are to learn from their mistakes,” Carroll said. “They know a lot of things didn’t go well for us up at Oregon State last year, and they can’t wait to try to correct them.”

Indeed, then-No. 1 USC’s 27-21 loss at Reser Stadium was the only blemish on the Trojans’ record last season, and it was unsightly enough to prevent them from playing for the national title.

USC (5-1, 2-1) already has been tripped by Washington this season, so tonight’s rematch at the Coliseum is more than urgent enough to get the Trojans’ attention with six games left in their quest for an eighth straight Pac-10 title.

Even with a showdown at 12th-ranked Oregon looming on Halloween night, the Trojans appear to be fully focused on righting the wrongs inflicted last season by Oregon State (4-2, 2-1 Pac-10) with the entire nation watching.

“We learned that we’ve always got to play four quarters,” Trojans safety Taylor Mays said. “We’ve got to start better than we did up there, which was terrible, and we’ve got to finish games off. We’ve got to tackle (Rodgers) every single time. Get low, wrap him up, put him down. It’s tough to do, but we’ve got to do it.”

Rodgers rushed for a career-best 186 yards and two touchdowns against the Trojans last season. Carroll had never even heard of Rodgers or his wideout brother, James, when they came out of high school �” but he knows all about them now.

“The Rodgers brothers are ridiculous,” Carroll said. “They’re both terrific football players. They can get you a number of different ways, and the play of their offensive line has been really sharp so far. We take this game with really a lot of respect based on last year, knowing how they blocked us pretty well and ran well against us.”

Carroll’s revenge weeks usually go quite well. USC has lost to the same team in back-to-back seasons just once in his tenure: to Kansas State way back in 2001-02, his first two years at the school.

Oregon State hasn’t won in Los Angeles since 1960, but coach Mike Riley’s teams have won each of their last seven games following bye weeks. Refreshed after back-to-back wins over Arizona State and Stanford, the Beavers have a chance to score an upset of a top-four team for the fourth consecutive season �” with two of those previous three over USC.

“It shows us that USC can be beaten,” Rodgers said of last season’s success. “We can’t live off of what we did last year, though. We can’t lose another game to keep our Rose Bowl hopes alive.”

Yet Riley, a former USC assistant, realizes the Trojans often play at a higher tempo in front of their huge sellout crowds at the Coliseum, where they’ve lost just once since 2001.

The Trojans are playing just their third home game of the season after nearly a month on the road with perilous trips to Berkeley and South Bend, yet they still lead the Pac-10 in a wealth of defensive statistical categories that could make everything tough for the Rodgers brothers.

“It’s either going to bring out the best in you, or it’s going to bury you,” Riley said of the annual USC challenge. “I’m just glad we’ve competed well. The whole USC deal in the conference over the last couple of years has meant you can either rise with the rest of the conference or fall. We just look at it as a great opportunity to grow.”

Although the Oregon State offense revolves around Rodgers, the nation’s ninth-leading rusher with 116.2 yards per game, Sean Canfield has been solid as the Beavers’ starting quarterback, even with former starter Lyle Moevao nearly healthy enough to play. Two years ago, Canfield’s sophomore season ended at the Coliseum when the Carlsbad, Calif., native hurt his throwing shoulder while sliding on a scramble.

“I don’t have anything against anyone there,” Canfield said. “Injuries happen. That’s part of the game. ... Playing a team like this, you have to be on your ’A’ game. A lot of things have to go right. You have to execute. You can’t have a lot of mental mistakes. That just comes with playing a team like USC.”