PULLMAN, Wash. — Two hours before kickoff, Southern California's players menacingly rocked their buses, as if they couldn't wait to get on the field. There would be no taking Washington State lightly, not after what happened on their last trip to the Pacific Northwest.

Mark Sanchez became the first USC quarterback to throw five touchdown passes in a half and the focused No. 6 Trojans dominated this time as a huge favorite, beating Washington State, 69-0, yesterday a month after they were upset by Oregon State.

USC's defense, ranked first in the nation coming in by allowing just 9.4 points per game, ended the Cougars' streak of scoring at 280 games dating to Sept. 15, 1984, when Ohio State beat Washington State, 44-0. That scoring streak was the second-longest in the nation to Michigan's 295 games.

"Our guys had a ball playing football today, from the locker room on out," USC coach Pete Carroll said. "Right from the start, we wanted to find that focus that we really hadn't had yet."

It was the largest shutout victory for USC (5-1, 3-1 Pac-10) since a 69-0 win over Montana in 1931.

"Our intention wasn't to come out and beat these guys by 80 points. Our intention was to come out and play a great football game," linebacker Rey Maualuga said.

The Trojans easily could have done both. Maualuga was kicking himself for having a potential interception and touchdown bang off his hand in the second quarter. And USC began showing mercy at the end of the first half, marching to the WSU 10 but then letting time expire.

Sanchez completed 15 of 20 passes for 253 yards. He also tied the school record of five scoring throws for a game — shared with Rodney Peete, Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart — with 4:51 left in the second quarter.

The Cougars (1-7, 0-5) absorbed their largest margin of defeat since they began playing in 1894.

Washington State plays at Hawai'i Nov. 29.

MORE UH OPPONENTS

Weber State 17, Northern Colorado 10: Saint Louis School alum Cameron Higgins threw for 413 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Wildcats (6-2, 4-0 Big Sky Conference) past the Bears (1-5, 1-2).

Higgins hit Tim Toone on an 18-yard touchdown pass early in the second quarter and a 40-yard field goal by Jon Williams gave WSU a 10-0 lead at the half.

Weber State lost to Hawai'i, 36-17, on Sept. 6.

Oregon State 34, Washington 13: James Rodgers gained 216 all-purpose yards and scored three touchdowns, and younger brother Jacquizz added 94 yards on 20 carries and a 1-yard touchdown run in leading the host Beavers (4-3, 3-1 Pac-10) over the Huskies (0-6, 0-4).

Oregon State, which defeated Washington for the fifth straight time, beat Hawai'i, 45-7, at Corvallis, Ore., on Sept. 13.

WAC GAMES

NEVADA 44, UTAH STATE 17: After sitting out the first quarter, Colin Kaepernick rushed for two touchdowns and threw for another as the host Wolf Pack (4-3, 2-1) raced to a 20-7 halftime lead in beating the Aggies (1-6, 0-3).

Vai Taua rushed for 122 yards and a touchdown for the Wolf Pack.

Nevada plays at Hawai'i on Saturday. Utah State will host Hawai'i Nov. 1 at Logan, Utah.

Louisiana Tech 46, Idaho 14: Daniel Porter ran for 145 yards and two touchdowns to help the host Bulldogs (3-3, 1-2) roll past the Vandals (1-7, 0-4).

The Vandals scored the game's first touchdown when Nathan Enderie threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to freshman Kama Bailey, a Damien Memorial alum from Hawai'i.

LaTech lost to Hawai'i, 24-14, last Saturday.

San Jose State 31, New Mexico State 14: Kyle Flynn returned an interception 90 yards for a touchdown and Duke Ihenacho picked off a screen pass and returned it 43 yards for another score to lead the visiting Spartans (5-2, 3-0) over the Aggies (3-3, 1-1).

San Jose State, which opened its conference season with three consecutive wins for the first time in the team's 13 seasons in the WAC, beat Hawai'i, 20-17, Sept. 27. New Mexico State will host Hawai'i, Nov. 8 at Las Cruces, N.M.