Carroll Turns Up Volume

USC’s game against Notre Dame is still more than a week away.

But with an ear toward the matchup at Notre Dame Stadium -- and other remaining games at Washington and California -- USC Coach Pete Carroll ordered crowd noise piped in for Wednesday’s practice as the top-ranked Trojans continued preparations for Saturday’s home game against Arizona.

USC is a heavy favorite Saturday and has won 26 consecutive games, 22 in a row at the Coliseum.

USC, however, struggled in the first half of its last two road games, at Oregon and Arizona State. Carroll and his players cited crowd noise as a factor in their penalty-plagued starts that necessitated second-half comebacks.

“Noise has been a problem for us,” offensive tackle Winston Justice said.

Offensive tackle Sam Baker said the Trojans “just lost focus” when it got loud at Oregon and Arizona State.

“It’s helping us focus for next week at the line of scrimmage,” he said of the Wednesday’s workout. “I don’t think noise will be a factor this week.”

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Middle linebacker Oscar Lua did not practice because of a cut on the pinky finger dislocated during Monday’s practice. Lua, who received stitches for the wound, said he would try to practice today and would play Saturday.... Carroll said linebacker Dallas Sartz (shoulder) would return to practice on Monday and would regain his starting position on the strong side when he is ready to play. Carroll said freshman linebacker Brian Cushing (shoulder) was further behind and might redshirt if he is not able to return in the next few games.