LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Southern California coach Pete Carroll was well aware of the danger and tried his best to prevent the Trojans from being upset again in Corvallis.

Didn't work.

The No. 9 Trojans, top-ranked and looking virtually invincible only a week ago, will try to bounce back from their stunning 27-21 loss at Oregon State when they face No. 23 Oregon at the Coliseum this weekend.

USC had vaulted to No. 1 when they romped past Virginia in the opener then manhandled then-No. 5 Ohio State 35-3 before heading to Corvallis, where the 2006 Trojans were upset 33-31.

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Coming off the big win over the Buckeyes, Carroll was particularly concerned about playing the Beavers.

"Looking at the schedule and hoping that we would get off 2-0, I thought that the Oregon State game would be a big challenge, just going on the road and all that stuff. I was hoping they would be undefeated, too," he said Monday at his weekly meeting with reporters.

"I don't think we had the same edge. It wasn't the same as it was the game the week before."

He said that he takes great pride in not allowing the Trojans to take any game for granted.

"But all of my little ways and approaches didn't get it done," Carroll said.

He won't have to worry about the Trojans (2-1, 0-1) taking Oregon (4-1, 2-0) lightly this week. Another loss would be critical in the Pac-10 standings as well as the BCS picture.

"We're getting ready with great earnest to get our game back on track," the coach said. "We have an enormous opportunity, coming back to the Coliseum with Oregon coming in, a team that has just really, really looked impressive.

"In areas we that we need to shore up, they're extremely capable and strong."

Jacquizz Rodgers keyed the Oregon State victory, darting around and through the Trojans' defense for 186 yards and scoring a pair of touchdowns.

The Ducks' running back tandem of Jeremiah Johnson and LeGarrette Blount could give USC similar problems.

"Oregon is going to come here and do the same thing," Trojans defensive tackle Kyle Moore said. "We just have to execute."

Oregon State had the ball for 35 minutes to USC's 25, and Carroll wants to see his offense control the game more against the Ducks.

"We're going to try and find ways to keep them off the field and keep the ball moving on offense and slow down the offense that they've just been ripping with," he said. "We'll see if that can help us."

Asked what he can do to get the team ready after a loss like the one in Corvallis, Carroll said, "You're dealing with a couple different issues. The mental aspect is different than coming off a win. So you have to get them back to the truth of what happened, (but then) you have to get them dealing with what's at hand, not what happened before."

Wide receiver Patrick Turner said he and his teammates were mad about losing last weekend, and "We've just got to learn from that and use that for positive energy."