The USC Trojans advanced one spot to overtake Michigan in The Associated Press Top 25 on Sunday, a day after their 44-24 victory over Notre Dame. USC, the sixth team to be ranked No. 2 this season behind No. 1 Ohio State, leads the Wolverines by 36 points in the poll.

John David Booty passed for 265 yards and three touchdowns to Dwayne Jarrett as No. 3 USC overpowered the No. 6 Fighting Irish 44-24 Saturday night and likely leapfrogged Michigan in the race for the national championship. No. 3 USC contained Brady Quinn and put together a performance that should boost its Bowl Championship Series standing. The Trojans were a close third behind the Wolverines last week. "I think we're a pretty good team right now," USC coach Pete Carroll said. "We'll play anybody, any where."

Paul Oliver held Georgia Tech wide receiver Calvin Johnson, an All-American considered by most the best receiver in the nation, to two catches for 13 yards in a 15-12 Georgia victory. "I don?t know if there are any kind of words to describe it," defensive coordinator Willie Martinez said of Oliver?s performance. "Tonight we put it all on Paul. We said, ?You?ve got to shut him down because we have to commit the extra defender to the box to stop the running game.? To do what he did, that?s hard. That tells you what kind of player he is. He rose to the challenge."

LSU cleared another contender from the national title picture and just might have added one more game to their already brutal road schedule, this time in the BCS. The Tigers will gladly accept a trip like that, and after taking out No. 5 Arkansas, they feel they have a pretty good resume. JaMarcus Russell threw for 210 yards and two touchdowns, and No. 9 LSU held off the SEC West champion Razorbacks 31-26 on Friday.

The game of the year didn't change the top of the AP poll. Ohio State was No. 1 and Michigan was No. 2 on Sunday. The Big Ten rivals have held the top two spots in the media poll since Oct. 15. After the Buckeyes beat the Wolverines 42-39 in Columbus on Saturday in their regular-season finale, the voters decided to keep them there.

No. 4 USC is headed back to Pasadena at the very least. The Trojans kept a loftier goal alive as well. QB John David Booty passed for 238 yards and two fourth-quarter touchdowns, the USC defense shut down California in the second half, and the Trojans beat the Golden Bears 23-9 Saturday night to clinch the Pac-10 championship and a berth in the Rose Bowl.

Troy Smith and Ohio State did it all, overwhelming Michigan with offense, winning the Big Ten title and streaking into the national title game. Smith and the top-ranked Buckeyes put their dazzling speed on display with a barrage of big plays, and they needed every one of them to beat an inspired Michigan team, 42-39 on Saturday. The Game of the Century, the first 1 vs. 2 matchup in this storied rivalry, was played a day after Michigan lost one of its legends in Bo Schembechler.

A memorial service honoring the late Michigan football coach Bo Schembechler will be held Tuesday afternoon in Michigan Stadium, the university said Saturday. Schembechler died Friday after collapsing during a taping of a television show. He was 77.

The last time the Bears celebrated New Year's in Pasadena, their current coach hadn't been born yet. Cal can end that 48-year drought Saturday against USC at the Los Angeles Coliseum. A Pac-10 championship and an automatic berth in the Rose Bowl are on the line. "There doesn't have to be any extra motivation in this week's game. Our players know what's at stake,"' Cal coach Jeff Tedford said. "It's just about going out and executing the game plan against a great football team."

The most anticipated meeting in the history of the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry is almost here. On Saturday, the bitter Big Ten Conference rivals will meet for the first time as the top two ranked teams in the land.