The Trojans bounced back from three halfhearted performances and put together their most dominating game this season, beating the fightless Irish 38-0 on Saturday. It was just what USC needed heading into upcoming games against No. 5 Oregon, No. 18 California, No. 7 Arizona State and rival UCLA.

USC coach Pete Carroll said the victory could be pivotal for the Trojans.

"I know that the guys feel great about it," he said. "They're real excited about the way it turned out, so we'll try to take a step forward against Oregon next week when we go up there."

The Trojans (6-1), who got back several key injured players, finally looked like the dominating team they were expected to be when they were the overwhelming choice as the preseason No. 1. Mark Sanchez, filling in for injured John David Booty, threw for 235 yards and four touchdowns, and the Trojans rolled up 230 yards rushing.

Carroll said the play of Sanchez, who was 21-of-38 passing, shows the Trojans have two quarterbacks who can win.

"That's a huge, huge advantage for us," Carroll said.

Carroll wasn't ready to say who will start at Oregon. He did say broken fingers don't usually heal in three weeks.

Booty said he is getting his range of motion back and thinks he will be ready.

"I have to prove that I can go out and be accurate and have velocity," he said.

Sanchez, though, isn't ready to give up the spot.

"Now that I have it I don't want to look back," he said.

A week after falling to No. 13 in the poll following a 20-13 win over Arizona — their lowest ranking in five years — the Trojans moved up to No. 9 following their most lopsided win ever over the Irish. The question now is whether USC can do enough in the final five weeks to win a spot in the BCS championship game.

"I feel like we still have a shot this year," tight end Fred Davis said.

Carroll, though, said he's not focused on that. He said the goal is to win the Pac-10 and get to the Rose Bowl. But he added the fact they can still make it to the title game shows why college football is so exciting.

"You can't write the book before the season is over," Carroll said. "You've got to wait. It's exciting and we feel like we're right in the middle of everything."

The only thing the Irish are in the middle of is one of the worst seasons in school history.

The loss to USC marked the second time this season the Irish were beaten 38-0, tying the loss to Michigan as the eighth-worst loss in 119 seasons. It was the second-worst home loss, two points shy of a 40-0 loss to Oklahoma in 1956.

The Irish (1-7) are 1-9 in their last 10 games, the worst stretch in school history.

Adding to the sting, Carroll said after the game he could see Notre Dame's problems coming two years ago when they depended so heavily on Brady Quinn and his classmates to give USC a scare.

"Those were two-, three-year starters, maybe a couple four-year starters," he said. "Some of those guys did play forever. So that's hard to overcome. I know they're working hard at it."

While the Trojans face their toughest stretch, Notre Dame heads into its easiest stretch after a bye week with games against Navy (4-3), Air Force (6-2), Duke (1-6) and Stanford (3-4).

Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis said even though the Irish don't have to worry about trying to reach "the toiletbowl.com," the focus will still be on trying to win. Some consideration will have to be given to getting the team ready for next season, he said.

"I think you have to start getting more guys into the mix that are going to be playing," he said.

The Irish still have a few things at stake. They have beaten Navy an NCAA record 43 straight times and a loss there would not only be embarrassing, it would tie the school record for losses in a season.

Weis said he's not worried about players quitting on him.

"Whether it's a fifth-year guy that wants to go to the NFL or whether it's any other guy that's in the program that wants to set the tone to go into next year, either way they always have a motivational tool," he said.

Weis saw his motivation when he looked across the field at the Trojans on Saturday.