A USC haymaker

LINCOLN, Neb. -- USC players and coaches insisted throughout the week that it was not about perception.

It was not about style points.

The top-ranked Trojans said they came to one of college football's most hallowed stadiums Saturday night just looking for a victory against a ranked opponent.

Utilizing a punishing rushing attack that produced 313 yards rushing and a suddenly opportunistic defense, the Trojans got that and more, rolling over No. 14 Nebraska, 49-31, before 84,959 in a game that was not as close as the score indicated.

On a chilly and breezy night, USC took the sea-of-red crowd out of the game by putting the ball in the hands of tailbacks Stafon Johnson, C.J. Gable and Chauncey Washington and fullback Stanley Havili. The backfield quartet dashed and darted through holes seemingly as wide as the giant "N" on the Memorial Stadium turf.

Meanwhile, the Trojans limited the Cornhuskers to 31 yards rushing and intercepted two third-quarter passes that led to touchdowns, turning an 11-point halftime lead into a 32-point margin going into the fourth quarter.

"We owned the line of scrimmage and that was huge for us," said USC Coach Pete Carroll, who celebrated his 56th birthday. "To do that here and to be able to capture the momentum of the stadium and all of that early on and then in the third quarter come ripping out there with a couple turnovers and away it goes -- it's a beautiful thing."

USC's status as the nation's best team was doubted by some after No. 2 Louisiana State, Oklahoma and Florida impressed last week while the Trojans had an open date after a less-than-stirring 38-10 season-opening victory over Idaho.

But USC (2-0) answered with an impressive performance.

"It was a great challenge, the first road game of the season," said junior defensive end Kyle Moore, who tipped a pass that led to an interception by Terrell Thomas and later intercepted a pass himself. "If we continue to keep doing that through the season we should be in New Orleans" for the Bowl Championship Series title game.

The Trojans showed Saturday that they could win big without a huge performance from quarterback John David Booty.

The senior completed 19 of 30 passes for 144 yards and two touchdowns, but was victimized by several dropped passes.

It did not matter on a night when USC amassed its highest rushing total since Reggie Bush and LenDale White helped the Trojans roll up 430 yards against UCLA in 2005.