And so Steve Sarkisian, offensive coordinator for the listing USC football team, slapped some caulking on the bow Saturday night and it held.

The Trojans' 24-3 victory over Oregon State, in front of 85,713 furrowed brows dressed in shades of cardinal and gold, wasn't pretty. No finished paint job here. At least another coat or two needed.

But as Sarkisian would say moments after his team had returned to the win column from the tough loss at Oregon last week, "It's something to build on."

In that Oregon loss, at least three things seemed to stick in the minds of Trojan faithful.

First, after Oregon had fumbled the opening kickoff, USC had the ball at the Ducks' 12, fourth and one. Sarkisian called for a play with an empty backfield, sent Joe McKnight in motion and ended up with an east-west play when the goal line direction was north-south. McKnight was stopped, and many fans were irked.

Later, with backup quarterback Mark Sanchez marching the Trojans, Sarkisian called a pass play on fourth and one, and it was intercepted. More irked fans.

Then, as the Trojans began their final drive in an attempt to tie the Ducks, Sarkisian tried two running plays that didn't gain much and seemed to chew up valuable time. USC eventually was stopped when Sanchez had another pass intercepted.

Now, the irked fans were an army, many of whom seemed to find time this week to e-mail friends and sportswriters and call the talk shows. Anger was not managed well. Second-guessing became an art form. And, of course, the name Norm Chow was invoked a lot.

Into this canyon of critics, also known as Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, stepped Sarkisian, a guy who once starred as a quarterback at BYU under Chow and still has passing numbers from 1995-96 that rank high in NCAA career listings. He had been around USC as far back as 1992, when he played baseball for the Trojans before transferring and heading off on a quarterback career.

Among the quarterbacks he has coached at USC are Carson Palmer and Matt Leinert. That's two Heisman Trophies. Still, fans connect those more to Chow than Sarkisian, fair or not.

The football insiders seemed to know Sarkisian's value. Al Davis offered him the Raider job before his fellow SC assistant, Lane Kiffin, took it.

So Saturday was huge for Sarkisian.

The Trojan faithful, used to national championship runs this time of year, rather than repair jobs that may lead only to a Holiday Bowl, can't quite let go of their fantasy of Chow, back in the coaches' suite, high above the field, successfully moving Trojans like puppets on a string, from one magnificent play to another.

One especially deluded fan even suggested in an e-mail this week that, since Chow is now offensive coordinator for Jeff Fisher at the Tennessee Titans and Fisher is a former USC player, Fisher should have the decency to bail his school out and send Chow back for the rest of the season.

Sarkisian had his starter, John David Booty, back at quarterback after four weeks of sitting it out with a broken finger on his throwing hand. He had a plan that would play to Booty's strengths. And in a 21-point second period that featured two scoring passes by Booty, Sarkisian got it done.

But he, as well as USC fans, were looking for more in the second half. And when neither team scored, Sarkisian's job performance for the night probably added up to a 6 on a scale of 10, nothing he wasn't aware of. SC's offense totaled 287 yards and Booty passed for 157, not Chow-like numbers.

"It was just O.K.," Sarkisian said. "We need to be a lot better than that."

Asked if he had heard the scattering of boos early in the game, when he called a couple of unsuccessful running plays on third-and-long, he said, "No, I'm just so locked into what I'm doing, I don't hear that. I just want the kids to go out and play well. We had lots of opportunities to do more, but we didn't. We just need more consistency."

As does Booty, Sarkisian said.

"He needs to play better than that," Sarkisian said. "He knows that. It was his first game back. He was rusty. We had some drops. But he needs to play better."

Oregon State hasn't won at the Coliseum since 1960. The Beavers have played the Trojans 71 times since 1914 and have won nine. So Saturday's 24-3 was more assumed than impressive.

The Trojan defense stuffed everything Oregon State tried. If you are an opposing team, you do not want to see Rey Maualuga, Brian Cushing or Keith Rivers, either in the game or in a dark alley. Tough guys. Tough tacklers.

But Sarkisian, as well as SC's head man, Pete Carroll, know where they play: Los Angeles, home of stars and show time, flash and dazzle. Defense doesn't cut it over the long run, no matter how good it is.

And they know the height of the entertainment bar they have set. Translate that Palmer, Leinert and bombs away.

USC has California and Arizona State left on the road, and then UCLA at the Coliseum Dec. 1. Important games that could still bring important things for this season. Like a Rose Bowl.

But it will take more than a quick fix on offense from here on. Nails, bolts, beams and lots of permanent glue.