COLUMBUS, Ohio — It's easy to lose valuables in New Orleans, where a night of revelry can leave you patting your pockets for a wallet or a set of keys.

Ohio State lost something less tangible in the French Quarter in January — the benefit of the doubt. And the Buckeyes need to travel to Los Angeles and beat top-ranked USC to reclaim it.

After flopping in the last two BCS title games, Ohio State figures there's only one way to earn a third invitation—go undefeated.

"It's definitely necessary," defensive end Lawrence Wilson said.

Added receiver Brian Hartline: "If you lose two national championship games in a row and the first one wasn't close, it says a lot."

Losing to top-ranked USC would add to the perception that Ohio State can't dance with the nation's elite. There's also a practical element to the win-or-be-eliminated talk.

For an 11-1 Ohio State team to reach the title game, USC surely would have to lose twice. And the Buckeyes would have to beat out the SEC champion. Good luck on that one.

"We need to be undefeated if we want to go back," Hartline stressed.

These Buckeyes are paying for the sins of the '06 and '07 teams. After Ohio State struggled to beat Ohio last Saturday, you almost could hear the nation's college football fans groan and slap the Buckeyes with the "overrated" label.

The Buckeyes started the season ranked second. They fell to No. 3 after waxing I-AA Youngstown State 43-0 and dropped to No. 5 after sliding past Ohio 26-14 in the quintessential look-ahead game.

"You're dealing with 18-22 year-olds," said Hartline, who is 21, "and you have to understand that no matter how much you preach not to look past a game, it is going to happen sometimes. Even subconsciously.

"Personally, I tried my hardest and studied as much film as I could, but you can't tell me USC didn't lay in the back of my mind going into (the Ohio game). There were times we were saying: 'Let's get through this week and get ready for USC.' We trained all last year knowing USC was Week 3."

The perception of the Big Ten also hurts Ohio State's cause. League officials are trumpeting their 11-0 record last week—a conference first—but only two of the victories came against BCS conference schools: Oregon State and Duke.

Although Ohio State and USC have nearly identical records over the past three seasons — 34-5 for the Trojans, 33-5 for the Buckeyes—Ohio State will enter the Los Angeles Coliseum as a double-digit underdog.

Coach Jim Tressel said he won't play that up, explaining: "It doesn't sound wonderful, but really what people think is not that important to me. What guys in the locker room, what they're thinking is key."

But there are reminders in the Woody Hayes Center, where the players train.

"One article that's up said something like: 'Is it the Big Ten or the Big Zero?' " Hartline said.

A Google search revealed a Los Angeles Times column with the headline, "Big Ten? Seems more like Big Zero."

But the story had little to do with the Buckeyes. It was published Jan. 2, five days before they lost to LSU in the Superdome. Its subject was USC's thumping of Illinois in the Rose Bowl.

Whatever the case, Ohio State coaches aren't above reminding players what's at stake in what Tressel promised will be a "highly noticed game."

Highly noticed? You could say that. It's easily the most anticipated game of the season.

And the result will define an Ohio State program that has lost its way in defining games.

"I like being threatened, being in that do-or-die position," Hartline said. "It's get the job done or get off the field."