Though Musberger and the ABC crew didn’t seem to take notice that USC kicked off in both halves on Saturday night, Trojan fans did. Apparently, Nebraska won the coin toss and deferred, and when SC decided to kick off anyway, it meant Nebraska got a free possession out of the deal.  According to the LA Daily News, Pete Carroll didn’t point fingers:  “I’ll take responsibility for that…Someone said we’ve won 19 coin tosses in a row, so I guess we weren’t ready.”

• CB Vincent Joseph, who was expected to remain in the hospital overnight with a bruised larynx, returned to LA on the team plane Saturday night wearing a neck brace.
• S Alfred Rowe suffered a concussion but is OK.
• As expected, LB Brian Cushing was not 100% against Nebraska and played in goal-line situations only. It’s not clear whether he’ll start on Saturday.  Clay Matthews, who started in Cushing’s place, broke a bone in his left thumb and expects to play with a soft cast for the next couple of weeks.
• After a tremendous start, C.J. Gable only had 4 carries for 69 yards against Nebraska. Gable told Scott Wolf, “It’s always frustrating but you deal with it,” and Carroll later remarked, “We were just mixing the other guys in.”

Trojans prove worthy of No. 1 rank (LA Times)
USC’s identity search goes on (LA Daily News)
Disappearing Act, Part II (Scott Wolf)