Jenkins might have started the downfall of another USC coaching staff Saturday at the Coliseum, where he ran for two touchdowns and threw for another in the Arizona Wildcats' 31-15 victory over the 18th-ranked Trojans.

"People rate quarterbacks on wins," said Jenkins, who has directed the hobbling 'Cats to splendid back-to-back victories on the road, last week at Stanford and Saturday at USC, to improve them to 4-1 and 2-0 in the Pac-10.

"This was huge. Magic. We knew they have a great defensive front, with two fast tackles. We knew we had a tough task. Nobody has put a target on us because nobody has believed in us."

Clarence Farmer flies high after scoring on an 80-yard touchdown run.(AP)

Until now, that is. The Wildcats were picked to finish eighth in their league in a preseason media poll, but the one Pac-10 team that has never played in the Rose Bowl now finds itself in the upper echelon of the conference.

And with an unproven offensive line, too. Left guard Steven Grace (shoulder) is likely out for the year, center Bruce Wiggins (ankle) missed his second consecutive game Saturday and left tackle Makoa Freitas returned against USC after missing the Stanford game with a foot injury.

The Trojans (3-2, 0-2) have also suffered injuries of their own, on their offensive line and elsewhere.

"But we have no sympathy for them," said Arizona senior defensive end Idris Haroon. "Our offensive line is so young."

A year ago, USC was 3-1 when it lost to Arizona, starting a five-game slide. Saturday's loss was the Trojans' second in a row.

Both USC athletic director Mike Garrett and coach Paul Hackett have talked publicly about the importance of being successful this season, Hackett's third.

"There is not a whole lot to say," said Hackett, who admitted that his team might have played "tight." At home? After playing tight in a bad loss at Oregon last week?

Jenkins showed a lack of remorse for the hosts from the start, when he connected with sophomore wide receiver Bobby Wade on a 75-yard touchdown completion, burning junior cornerback Kris Richard, on the third play of the game.

"Sometimes, you can catch them on their heels," Jenkins said.

Which the 6-foot-1, 213-pound Jenkins did again two series later. On a fourth-and-goal at the USC 1-yard line, he called an audible, faked a handoff to a right-sprinting Clarence Farmer and bootlegged it around his left side for the touchdown.

The fake handoff froze Richard for an instant, allowing Jenkins to scamper into the end zone untouched. Near the end of the first quarter, Farmer blasted up the gut of the USC defense for an 80-yard TD run that gave Arizona a 21-0 lead.

"Anytime you go down 21-zip in the first quarter to a team you figured you'd beat, it'll open your eyes," Jenkins said. "They were a little bit demoralized, but that's a big word. I'll just say it opened their eyes."

Jenkins continued to open the Trojans' eyes late in the third quarter, on a first-and-goal from the USC 5. With three receivers to his right, Jenkins lined up in the shotgun formation. Upon taking the snap, he acted as if he were handing it to Farmer, cutting in front of Jenkins from the left.

However, Jenkins kept the football and found a huge path to the left, following tackle Freitas into the end zone to make it 28-9. No Trojan came close to touching either Wildcat.

"It was pretty easy," Jenkins said. "It was pretty wide open."

Arizona's no-name offensive line is becoming pretty popular.

"People said we were a rag-tag line against Stanford, and even Keith Jackson said we were 'patchwork,'" Freitas said. "So I think we had something to prove after Stanford, and I think we still have a lot to prove."

Jenkins said Arizona would be nowhere without its stellar defense, which entered Saturday's game with the fourth-best scoring defense (9.0 points) in the NCAA and ninth-best (72.3 yards) against the run.

USC finished with 10 yards rushing.

Jenkins's second scoring run was set up by Haroon, a fifth-year senior from Houston who pummeled USC quarterback Carson Palmer from Palmer's right side, jarring the ball from Palmer's right hand and falling on it himself to give Arizona possession at the Trojans' 19.

A week ago, Haroon returned a fumble 32 yards for a touchdown in the 27-3 victory over Stanford.

"(Palmer) was just sitting there, picture-perfect," Haroon said. "Like the coaches always say, a sack isn't good enough. You have to get the ball. We expected them to run more, but after awhile you could tell they were scared to run the ball.

"A lot of people say we have a tricky defense, but it isn't tricky. We just try to confuse people, and we'll do a whole bunch of different things. If they can't understand it, it's better for us."

USC lost two fumbles and Palmer had three passes picked off by Wildcats. His third coaxed most of a crowd of 49,342 out the tunnels with 11 minutes, 44 seconds left in the game.

"The rest," Jenkins said, "is history."

A native of Long Beach, Calif., Jenkins couldn't understand why Robinson wouldn't promise that he could play quarterback. Jenkins wanted to stay home, but USC insisted on recruiting him as an "athlete."

Jenkins took his athleticism to Arizona, which allowed him to play quarterback and dabble in basketball. He gave up hoops two years ago, when he started circling USC on his calendar.

"The school that thought I couldn't play quarterback," said Jenkins, who has made the Trojans rethink that idea plenty the past two football seasons.