Coach Carroll held court on Tuesday, very concerned about preventing a let-down following a bye week, and joking about the fog in Corvalis from 2004:

“The last time, we couldn’t see it. I really can’t tell you much. I don’t know anything about the area and you couldn’t see a thing. This should be different. It’s supposed to be sunny, and nice and beautiful and all that but you never know. I really feel like I don’t have an experience there that I can recall other than you really couldn’t see anything and it was very mystical that night and kind of interesting and all that. That was a heck of a football game. They were really ready to beat us that night.”

On players emerging during the bye week:

“We’ve worked hard at expanding the young guys’ roles. Particularly, the young wide receivers with the concern that as Dwayne Jarrett comes back to full speed and Steve Smith comes back to full speed, that maybe they’re not quite full speed. So we worked a lot with Travon Patterson and Vidal Hazelton in particular and Anthony McCoy at the tight end spot.”

On looking for a shift or change in the USC team:

“I don’t remember in other years specifically when it happened but it’s always somewhere in the middle. It’s not early in the year. I remember a couple of years ago, at the Stanford game, we had a real difficult game against those guys on the road and we were down and out it appeared. And then we came roaring back and won the game real late in the game. That was a real significant game for us, much more than maybe a match-up that other people would have cherished more. That was one that meant a lot to us and you don’t know which game it’s going to be. Arizona State was important though. That was important finish for the offense and an important finish for the defense as well.”

On seeing things differently than the media at this point in the season:

“I’m feeling like we’ve been in control of our games. I felt like we have controlled the games. Even when Washington was coming down on the last drive and Arizona State had the chance to do something at the end of the game, I felt in control of those games – which is different from when you feel out of control of a game and you’re just hanging on for dear life. It hasn’t felt like that. There was a lot of games this weekend where teams had their chances to finish games and to win them… to do the things you do to win games when they didn’t and they’re very frustrated by that and I’m sure they’re sick about it. We’ve been on the other side of that. Those are accomplishments that are important for your mentality. I don’t know that the media cherishes that as much as I do as a coach.”

On talking to Matt Leinart and losing more NFL games so far than at USC:

“He’s been hit more too. Steve Sarkisian talked to him last night. I talked to him after the Monday night game. He’s in a difficult situation for him. He’s unfamiliar with it. Even through his high school years, he won all those games too. He does know what it feels like when things are going good and you have the confidence to finish games and you take on your opponents with a real air, that you know you’re going to win. It’s hard for them right now, for the whole team and what more so for Matt. He does understand it and he’ll know when it starts to change and shift and I think he’ll be able to lead them very well if he continues to get his opportunities. The classic deal for them last game, coming off a huge Monday night event… come up short, all of that and then go against a team that hasn’t won a game. All of a sudden, they look like the world champs. That’s kind of classic and it’s unfortunate but it’s the ups and downs of how it goes. You have to struggle through it. He was very frustrated by it. That’s why they call it the “no fun league”. It humbles you.”

Coach Carroll And Mike Riley Talk About Saturday’s Trojan-Beaver Match-Up [USCtrojans.com]