While Pitt visits No. 10 South Florida, Oregon State, the little team that upset then-No. 1 USC last Thursday, is playing unbeaten No. 15 Utah. On Friday, No. 8 BYU, the best team in the West, takes on Utah State in Mountain West Conference game, at the same time that Cincinnati kicks off against Marshall.

South Florida, ranked No. 10 by the Associated Press, deserves a shot at playing on national television, especially since Oregon State got its chance last week. But choosing Cincinnati and Marshall over BYU doesn’t make sense. The Cougars are on track to qualify for a major bowl, possibly even the BCS championship game. Cincinnati barely beat Akron in a neighborhood scrimmage called the Rubber Bowl last Saturday.

Maybe ESPN plans to schedule BYU later in the season, but why wait.

Meanwhile, Oregon State is still basking in the Indian Summer glow of beating USC. Coach Mike Riley plotted the perfect strategy against the Trojan defense. He knew that USC had too much speed on the corners for the Beavers to run outside, so Riley sent the diminutive Jacquizz Rodgers up the middle where the 5-6 back seemed to gain loads of yards at a time. When it was over, Rodgers, a true freshman, had tallied 186 yards in 37 carries and scored two touchdowns, and the Beavers celebrated at Reaser Stadium in the same way that Dee Andros and his OSU team did 41 years ago after their 3-0 upset of USC.

It was apparent that USC missed nose tackle Cedric Ellis and linebacker Keith Rivers, both of whom are now playing in the NFL. The Trojans’ defensive line was dominated by the Beavers’ front seven. Coach Pete Carroll said this week that he had hoped Oregon State would be undefeated when USC traveled to Corvallis, but the Beavers lost two of its first three games, including a wipeout on the road at Penn State.

Carroll worried that because of OSU’s poor start that USC would be complacent and lose its emotional edge. His fears were realized, but he says that it won’t happen this Saturday when the Trojans play host to No.23 Oregon, which is 4-1 and unbeaten in Pac-10 play.

In a rarity, both USC and UCLA are home, and the Bruins are favored for the first time this season, against lowly Washington State, by 16 points. The Bruins showed signs of having a running game last week against Fresno State, something that’s been nonexistent so far for Rick Neuheisel and Norm Chow.

In another marquee game involving a Pac 10 team, Stanford travels to South Bend, Ind., for an intersection game against Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish are favored by 7 points.