Oregon State football coach Mike Riley predicted his players would be upset with all the missed opportunities when they watched the video, and he was right.

During their review session Sunday, the Beavers took notes to learn from the mistakes they saw that led to the 42-36 loss at Southern California on Saturday night.

Riley's message afterward was to forget about the loss and move forward to this week's Pacific-10 Conference home game against UCLA.

"Every game is a learning experience," quarterback Sean Canfield said. "You look at the film, and there's a lot of things to be learned from losses. We'll correct the things we need to correct."

The Beavers come out of the defeat still feeling confident. They took on the No. 4-ranked team in the country and gave the Trojans all they could handle.

"I really like this team," Riley said. "Our guys never quit playing. We just have to get better every day. We have to live in the vacuum to get ready for UCLA and play our best game."

The Beavers must move on without reserve junior defensive tackle Mitchel Hunt, who dislocated a knee cap and will be out long-term.

Hunt underwent surgery after suffering the same injury on the same knee as a redshirt freshman in 2007.

"I don't know if he'll need surgery again or not, but he might," Riley said.

Running back Jacquizz Rodgers sprained his right ankle and didn't run with the team when it met Sunday, but he walked around without problem.

Rodgers missed the second quarter of Saturday's game to get it re-taped. He had a sprained left ankle earlier in the season.

Wide receiver James Rodgers bruised a knee, but didn't miss much time in the game. Both are expected to be ready for UCLA.

"They'll play, but we'll see if they'll be ready to practice on Tuesday," Riley said.

Both are needed to keep OSU's offense at its efficient peak. Canfield is playing the best of his career and Jacquizz Rodgers continues to impress even though he's a known commodity now.

The receivers are deep and dependable, while the offensive line continues to make progress.

"I like the rhythm we are in offensively," Riley said. "We've had three good games in a row. That's good for confidence."

The defense, however, is another story. The Beavers are in a distant last place in the conference in sacks with four.

They didn't record a sack against the Trojans, and that put the defensive backs in a tough spot. They held up at times with interceptions by James Dockery and Lance Mitchell.

Add the 227 yards rushing USC gained and the 202 passing yards, and the Beavers couldn't make the crucial stops.

"They made some plays, big plays in the passing game," Riley said. "The hard part was the 200-plus yards rushing. They got into good third-down situations."

The only thing, Riley said, that will make a difference is experience. The defense made progress but wasn't ready to face a high-end offense.

"I thought we did pretty good as a whole," Mitchell said. "We got a couple touchdowns caught on us with no help, trying to get pressure. And they exposed us."

As for the two special teams breakdowns, they are correctable. Justin Kahut hit the ball wrong on his missed 22-yard field goal attempt. He had a sharp angle and compensated too much.

The punt return for a touchdown was a result of the coverage team collapsing to the middle, which it usually doesn't do. That allowed Damian Williams to get outside for a 63-yard score.

"There was some good plays out there for us, and some good plays for them," Mitchell said. "We have to go back to the drawing board and get it right."