SAN FRANCISCO — Southern California ended a disappointing season with a bowl win that the Trojans hope will vault them into a more successful 2010.

Matt Barkley threw touchdown passes to Stanley Havili on Southern California's first two possessions and added a touchdown run in the fourth quarter to help the Trojans beat Boston College, 24-13, in the Emerald Bowl last night.

"It was important to be able to end on that note with that positive attitude knowing we're capable of winning like that and getting back to playing Trojan football," Barkley said. "It's huge for us to be able to go into the offseason like that."

The victory was far from impressive but it did put a positive ending on the worst season at USC (9-4) since Pete Carroll's first back in 2001. The Trojans lost three of their final five regular-season games to fall out of the national rankings for the first time since that year.

That left USC in an unfamiliar bowl setting after making it to the Bowl Championship Series the past seven years, including four straight Rose Bowl bids. But the Trojans made the most of it, handing Boston College (8-5) its second straight bowl loss after an eight-year bowl winning streak.

"We needed this 'W,' " Havili said. "We're happy to start next season with a win. We had a great two weeks of practice and it was all a matter of executing. Yeah, we're used to playing in the Rose Bowl but we're still motivated to play and to win this game, since this is where we played. We had a great game plan up front. It was a growing season. We had a lot of young guys step up."

Damian Williams caught 12 passes for 189 yards in what could be his final game for the Trojans, grabbing long passes to set up Havili's second score and Barkley's 1-yard sneak that gave USC a 24-13 lead with 11:53 remaining. Williams will decide in the next few days whether to skip his senior season to enter the NFL draft.

The Eagles stayed close with the Trojans for most of the game before Dave Shinskie threw an interception to Shareece Wright early in the fourth quarter.

The Trojans won despite playing without leading rusher Joe McKnight, who was not cleared to play as the school investigates whether he violated rules by using an SUV that doesn't belong to him. McKnight is USC's first 1,000-yard rusher since 2005, with 1,014 yards on 6.2 yards per carry and eight touchdowns.

BOSTON COLLEGE 0 13 0 0 — 13

SOUTHERN CAL 7 7 3 7 — 24

First Quarter

USC—Havili 53 pass from Barkley (Congdon kick), 6:01.

Second Quarter

USC—Havili 5 pass from Barkley (Congdon kick), 12:36.

BC—Harris 7 run (kick failed), 9:54.

BC—Gunnell 61 pass from Shinskie (Aponavicius kick), 3:48.

Third Quarter

USC—FG Congdon 38, 9:08.

Fourth Quarter

USC—Barkley 1 run (Congdon kick), 11:53.

A—40,121.

          BC USC

First downs 18 20

Rushes-yards 30-94 29-88

Passing 218 350

Comp-Att-Int 14-33-1 27-37-2

Return Yards 40 1

Punts-Avg. 6-34.7 4-41.5

Fumbles-Lost 3-1 1-0

Penalties-Yards 4-30 6-37

Time of Possession 25:37 34:23

RUSHING—Boston College, Harris 23-102, McCluskey 1-3, Shinskie 4-1, Team 2-(minus 12). Southern Cal, Bradford 17-72, Patterson 1-13, Gable 3-9, McNeal 1-3, Havili 2-2, Team 2-(minus 4), Barkley 3-(minus 7).

PASSING—Boston College, Shinskie 14-33-1-218. Southern Cal, Barkley 27-37-2-350.

RECEIVING—Boston College, Gunnell 6-130, Jarvis 3-47, Larmond 3-29, Pantale 1-7, McCluskey 1-5. Southern Cal, Williams 12-189, Havili 6-83, R.Johnson 6-58, Ausberry 2-17, Butler 1-3.