LOS ANGELES - If the game was measured by effort and heart, Joe Salave'a would of broken the scale.

With a relentless passion to get to the football, Salave'a would not be denied.

"He was going a million miles an hour, even on the last play," USC offensive line coach Mike Barry said.

Practicing all week with a sore shoulder, Salave'a had to push his pain to the side.

"The thing about Joe is that he is a great warrior and competitor," Barry said. "I wish the kid would graduate. It seems like he has been there for 10 years. I gained respect for him the first time I saw him play and from then on it has only grown."

Salave'a almost single-handedly took over the game. He had seven solo tackles, four of them totaling a loss of 29 yards. He was in USC quarterback Brad Otton's face all game, sacking him three times and forcing a fumble on another.

Double-teamed, blocked by a tailback - it didn't matter.

"I would tell him how close he had got to getting another sack, and some guys get upset about it, but he was cool about it all night," Otton said. "We definitely had enough contact to get to know each other."

By the end of the third quarter, Salave'a was helping Otton off the ground on nearly every play.

"A lot of times I was throwing with a helmet in my chest," Otton said.

When Otton would get a pass off, Salave'a was the first to hear about it.

"I love the competitiveness of the game," Salave'a said. "You talk to the guy, they talk back and you develop a sort of friendship. It is a healthy friendship. What you do and say, you leave on the field and that's how it should be."

However, it's not like Salave'a gets an open shot at the quarterback. He has to go through 6-foot-5, 300-pound linemen in under five seconds.

"He just kept bumping and grinding with me all day, and at the end I just told him that it was a great battle," USC left guard David Pratchard said. "He's a great player. I just hope I can recover from it. I'm hurting right now."

Pratchard was not alone in his opinion.

"He is relentless. I wish he would just graduate already," USC center Jonathon Himebauch said.

A 6-4, 280-pound senior, Salave'a knew this would be his last time to play Southern Cal. Every game is the last time he will play an opponent and he plans to enjoy every play of it.

"It's all part of the strategy, trying to outdo one another (himself and Otton)," Salave'a said. "He came through this time. We just shot ourselves in the foot too many times and we need to learn from our mistakes and re-establish ourselves next week."

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