Stanford 55, USC 21 (final)

USC saved a record-setting performance for its homecoming.

But not the good kind.

In a key 55-21 Pacific 10 Conference win over the Trojans today at the Coliseum, the Cardinal scored more points against USC than any team in history.

Not a good day for defensive guru Pete Carroll, who was clearly hot when he met Stanford Coach Jim Harbaugh on the field after the game. Carroll gave his rival a terse "good game," but he didn't like Stanford going for a two-point conversion late in the game, already up 48-21.

USC fell to 7-3 overall and 4-3 in the Pac-10 -- the first time the Trojans have lost three games in a season since 2001, Carroll's first year as coach.

Stanford improved to 7-3, 6-2.

USC simply had no answer for a Stanford offense that scored 51 points against Oregon last week.

Cardinal tailback Toby Gerhart, who USC didn't think was fast enough to recruit as a tailback, rushed for 178 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for more than 100 yards last season against the Trojans.

Stanford, which rushed for 325 yards and averaged 6.5 yards a carry, has now delivered USC's lost three losses at home -- in 2001, 2007 and 2009.

Andrew Luck was as impressive passing as Gerhart was running. He completed 12 of 22 passes for 144 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for 61 yards and a touchdown.

USC got 142 yards rushing and a touchdown from Joe McKnight. Matt Barkley completed 21 of 31 passes for 196 yards and a touchdown but had three passes intercepted and fumbled once. Stanford scored touchdowns after each of the turnovers.

USC football: Alumni, family and friends invited to homecoming activities

USC's game against Stanford on Saturday at the Coliseum is only one of the events that will be a part of USC's homecoming festivities.

The USC Alumni Assn. is hosting "an old-fashioned Homecoming celebration, with plenty of family-friendly attractions ranging form prize giveaways to live music." 

You can find more information at this website. For a campus map, click here.

--Gary Klein

Photo: USC's Song Girls perform before the game against the Oregon State Beavers on October 24 at the Los Angeles Coliseum. Credit: Stephen Dunn / Getty Images.

UCLA football: Stan Hasiak returns to the team

UCLA freshman guard Stan Hasiak returned to the team Thursday, but Coach Rick Neuheisel says it is unlikely he will play Saturday at Washington State. He is not expected to travel with the team.

"He's back in good stead and we're excited that he's back," Neuheisel said after Thursday's practice.

Neuheisel had said Hasiak, one of the top players in the Bruins' 2009 recruiting class, would not be with the team indefinitely on Tuesday because he was "dealing with issues."

Hasiak has been involved with numerous reported incidents involving near fights with teammates during live scrimmages. He appeared in the first two games this season, but then missed the next three games. Hasiak also did not suit up against Washington last week and did not travel with the team for a game Oct. 31 against Oregon.

When he was asked whether Hasiak took care of his personal issues, Neuheisel responded, "I would leave it at he’s back and he’s in good graces and I’m excited that he’s back."

Stay tuned to latimes.com/sports for more coverage from UCLA's practice.

-- Mark Medina

USC football: Pete Carroll at or near the top of college football salary list

USA Today released its annual survey of college football coaching salaries, complete with a linkable database, and USC Coach Pete Carroll (pictured at right) is at or near the top.

It's difficult to be definitive.

According to a federal tax document that private universities are required to file, Carroll earned $4,386,652 in 2007. Florida Coach Urban Meyer's salary is listed at $4 million, but that is based on the school-announced average and does not include outside income information, a story accompanying the survey said.

Regardless, the package always makes for interesting reading.

I asked Carroll about his compensation after his weekly news conference today.

"I'm blessed to be in the situation to have the opportunities I've had," he said.

--Gary Klein

Photo credit: Kirby Lee / US Presswire

Chris Dufresne: LeGarrette Blount got what he deserved ... and maybe more

Eight games were enough for suspended Oregon tailback LeGarrette Blount, who was reinstated Monday by the Pacific 10 Conference.

Blount will be eligible to play in the Ducks' home games Saturday against Arizona State.

In hindsight, eight games may have too many for Blount, who paid a steep price for punching Boise State's Byron Hout after Oregon's Sept. 3 loss in Idaho.

Last week, Florida suspended star linebacker Brandon Spikes for one half against Vanderbilt after he tried to gouge the eyes out of a Georgia player.

Florida later "stiffened" the punishment to a full game.

Blount deserved serious discipline for what he did on that Thursday night before Labor Day, but his situation was complicated and compounded by the fact that the game was nationally televised and that the YouTube video of the punch whirled around the world.

USC football: Safety Will Harris is Pac-10 defensive player of the week

USC safety Will Harris, who intercepted two passes in the Trojans' 14-9 victory over Arizona State, has been selected the Pacific 10 Conference defensive player of the week.

Harris, a senior, returned an interception 55 yards for a touchdown late in the second quarter to give the Trojans a 7-3 lead. His second interception, on the game's final play, secured the victory.

Harris also made five tackles.

USC, which is No. 9 in the Bowl Championship Series standings, continues its Pac-10 schedule against Stanford on Saturday at the Coliseum.

-- Gary Klein

Photo: USC's Will Harris, left, scores a touchdown after intercepting a pass against Arizona on Saturday. Credit: Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times

College soccer: New Mexico's Elizabeth Lambert tries to get a red card (New Mexico soccer player suspended video)

We don't post too many blogs on college soccer, but random acts of sports-related violence are often good enough to make the cut.

Check out this video of New Mexico defender Elizabeth Lambert trying her best to get a red card during a match against BYU last week (by the way, all she got was a yellow card):

The Lancaster Paraclete graduate was suspended indefinitely by New Mexico after video of her BYU beatdown hit the Internet on Friday. I hope she didn't learn that while practicing corner kicks at the Lancaster National Soccer Center.

Lambert apologized for her actions, but New Mexico needs to consider whether it would be smart allowing her to play again with all the negative attention she's brought to the school. Of course, where was the coach in all of this? And how about the ref? What do you need to do to get kicked out of a game?

-- Austin Knoblauch

Chris Dufresne: So the BCS is looking for a permanent point person?

College football's home office is being inundated with applications for the newly proposed position of Bowl Championship Series point person.

Jimmy "The Fixer" reportedly wants a crack at it, an unemployed former air traffic controller thinks landing planes in Newark perfectly suits him to bringing the BCS standings home safely and a "cat-herder" from New Zealand is convinced he may be able to corral the USA Today voting coaches.

Why anyone would want the impossible -- and permanent -- position of defending the BCS might seem perfectly insane, yet it's just what college football needs.

The position of BCS coordinator has been a hot potato tossed from one acting conference commissioner to another, on a two-year rotating term.

Not ony are there potential conflicts of interest, with BCS commissioners having to deal with dicey issues involving their own schools, it hasn't even been fair because two of the six BCS conferences -- the Pac-10 and Big Ten -- have refused to accept the coordinator responsibility. The leagues contend that their separate contracts with ABC and the Rose Bowl somehow exempted them.

With ESPN taking over the entire BCS broadcast package starting next season, and some in Congress continuing to threaten antitrust legislation, the BCS needs a strong advocate to keep that faction of America from drawing devil horns on a system that college presidents strongly endorse and is wildly profitable.

The best man for the job, without a doubt, would be recently retired Big East Commissioner Michael Tranghese, who explained the BCS better than anyone, and, as BCS coordinator, was first to say when it screwed up.

You wouldn't wish this kind of assignment on your best friend, but since Tranghese is only a professional friend and stand-up person, I wholeheartedly endorse his hiring.

If he ends up being the man, well, good luck, Godspeed and don't forget to keep your powder dry.

chris.dufresne@latimes.com

Twitter.com/DufresneLATimes

UCLA Basketball: Anderson injured

UCLA sophomore Jerime Anderson, expected to start at point guard for the Bruins this season, missed the team's first official practice tonight because of a recurring groin injury.

It is a problem that hampered Anderson last season and through part of this summer.

A team spokesman said Anderson will continue to sit out through the weekend and early next week but is expected to return Wednesday.

He averaged 8.6 minutes last season but has moved into the starter's role with the graduation of Darren Collison and Jrue Holiday's early departure for the NBA.

-- David Wharton

Photo: Jerime Anderson. Credit: Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times

These rankings would be considered rank in Westwood

According to ratings guru Jeff Sagarin, a 1970 MIT mathematics graduate, USC is the No.1 team this week in college football and UCLA is the No. 2 team all-time in college basketball.

Well, of course, who needs a computer to figure that out ... what?

Based on his ratings, you might suspect Sagarin graduated from Kentucky with a law degree from USC.

Sagarin is an important man in numbers-crunching circles. His ratings, published weekly in USA Today, are one of six used in the Bowl Championship Series standings formula to determine the top two teams in college football.

Sagarin was recently commissioned by ESPN to rate the top college basketball programs of all time and this is the top 10 his computer gurgled out:

Kentucky, UCLA, Kansas, North Carolina, Indiana, Illinois (Illinois??), Duke, Purdue, Ohio State, Iowa.

That's right, UCLA is No. 2 and five of the top 10 schools are from the Big Ten.