No. 3 Texas (7-0) travels to Oklahoma State (6-1) and needs a win to stay in position to eventually move into the top two when Florida or Alabama loses. Southern California (6-1), fifth in the BCS, is at Oregon (6-1), which is 10th in the standings, leads the Pacific-10 Conference with a 4-0 mark and is on the periphery of the national championship discussion.

Oklahoma State, 14th in the BCS standings, has won five in a row. The Cowboys have a recent history of giving the Longhorns tough games but falling short on the scoreboard.

"They are a really good football team, and we're expecting them to be good this year," Texas quarterback Colt McCoy said this week.

It was at this time a year ago that Texas suffered a crucial last-second loss at Texas Tech, which ultimately ruined the Longhorns' chances of playing for the national title.

"It's the same week, the same situation. How many times in your life do you get a chance to redo something that you're not as proud of," Longhorns coach Mack Brown said this week.

"That's the emphasis. We don't need style points. We don't need to do anything other than win. We need to find a way to win against a really good team. This is fun. This is a great time for us, and we need to enjoy it, embrace it and go attack it."

Florida plays Georgia in Jacksonville on Saturday in the continuation of their annual neutral-field rivalry. Alabama is off.

Enlarge By Erich Schlegel, for USA TODAY Texas quarterback Colt McCoy (12) kneels after being tackled and fumbling in the first half of their game against the Oklahoma Sooners on Oct. 17 in Dallas. Both No. 3 Texas and No. 4 USC face road tests this weekend as they face No. 13 Oklahoma St. and No. 12 Oregon, respectively.