Although “strength of schedule” has been eliminated from the BCS’ criteria list, it's evident that the Bowl Championship Series’ hoity-toity leagues do not want a “buster” in their midst from the Mountain West Conference, where the quality of play is viewed inferior to that of the Big Ten, Southeastern Conference, Pacific 10 and Big 12.

Utah coach Urban Meyer is 19-2 in his tenure at Salt Lake City, and considered a candidate for the jobs at Florida and Washington. Alex Smith, his quarterback, is on the Heisman ballot. Utah has two games left and can make this season even more remarkable with wins over Wyoming and Brigham Young. But with Michigan and Florida State breathing down their necks in the polls, Utah will be lucky to be part of a prestigious BCS bowl in the New Year.

OUT OF THE FOG | Southern Cal escaped from the murk and gloom of Corvalis, Oregon, where they eked out a 28-20 win against upset-minded Oregon State. The Beavers had taken a 13-0 lead in the second quarter and it looked like OSU would repeat its historical feat of 1967 by upsetting the top-ranked Trojans again, as they did 37 years ago. But the play of tight end Dominque Byrd and I Can Do Anything tailback Reggie Bush, guided USC through the dense fog at Reser Stadium to its 18th straight victory, second-longest in Division 1-A play.

USC (9-0, 6-0) now will stay in Los Angeles for the rest of the regular season — three games to go, three wins away from the Orange Bowl. The Trojans play Arizona at the Coliseum, Saturday night, then have a week off before meeting Notre Dame and UCLA. Some insiders feel USC has lost its edge, that the team peaked in its rout of Arizona State when it scored 35 points in the first half and has slipped in recent weeks, especially on offense. Commentaries in the L.A. Daily News hinted that Mike Riley outcoached Pete Carroll, that Norm Chow's playcalling was less than stellar, and the play of the offensive line has been inadequate. Matt Leinart has looked like an ordinary college quarterback lately, afraid to fire down-field passes and instead lofts soft tosses to his receivers that are easily interceptible. Wide receiver Dwayne Jarrett has withdrawn into his cocoon after it appeared he had gotten over being homesick. If it weren't for Bush and Byrd and the relentless play of the defensive front four, Oregon State would have pulled off the upset.

BRUINS GOING BROKE | Everyone's down in the dumps in Westwood after UCLA’s loss 31-29 to Washington State last week because, with two games left in the regular season, the Bruins are 5-4 and one win short of becoming bowl eligible. The Bruins play at Oregon this weekend, then have two weeks off before playing USC at home in the Pac-10 finale. UCLA’s fortunes looked like they had turned for the better, with a good chance of playing in a quality bowl, when the Bruins shutout high-scoring Stanford, 21-0 two weeks ago. But, a disastrous finish against Arizona State coupled with a last-ditch failure to make a two-point conversion against the Cougars has Karl Dorrel's troops on the edge of not making the post-season. UCLA's injuries and a porous defense give the Ducks a big advantage at Eugene. It's worth noting that UCLA is still paying the fired Bob Toledo money owed on his contract, reportedly in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. It was Toledo who reportedly paid more attention to recruiting top-notch offensive players than defensive ones during his tenure in Westwood.

POWER SWEEPS | The Apple Cup, the annual clash between cross-state rivals Washington and Washington State, will be televised on the West Coast by ABC at 4 p.m. The Huskies have won the last six installments of the game, which dates back to 1900. ... Andrew Walter, the Sun Devil with the Golden Arm, broke John Elway's Pacific 10 record for touchdown passes against Stanford, Elway's old college team. Walter, who holds just about every Arizona State passing record, threw for four TDs against the Cardinal, giving him 80, with two games still to play. Elway's mark was 77. ... On the subject of passing, Hawaii's Timmy Chang shattered the NCAA career record for yards passing held by Ty Detmer. Going into the game against Louisiana Tech in Honolulu, Chang need just 14 yards to break Detmer's mark of 15,031. He accomplished that in the first quarter on a 7-yard scoring pass, and his 285 yards for the game gives him 15,303 yards with at least four games to play.