New York ? Southern California and Texas flip-flopped again, putting the Trojans back on top of the Bowl Championship Series standings.

USC jumped over the Longhorns on Monday, returning to first place after a one-week stay in second. It’s the first time in the eight-year history of the BCS that the top two teams in the standings switched positions in consecutive weeks.

The margin between USC and Texas still is small — only .0038 — though up from last week, when the difference between first and second in the standings was the slimmest it ever had been.

Third-place Virginia Tech gained on the top two this week, but the Trojans and Longhorns remain on course for a Rose Bowl showdown.

“The sun’s going to come up tomorrow. We’ll be all right,” Texas tackle Justin Blalock said.

Coach Mack Brown said, “I don’t care. I want to be one or two.”

The top two teams in the final BCS standings play Jan. 4 in Pasadena, Calif., for the national title.

The first five teams in the latest BCS standings are unbeaten, with Alabama fourth and UCLA moving up a spot to fifth.

“If we let ourselves start worrying about this and that, that’s the quickest way to get yourself beat,” Alabama coach Mike Shula said.

It’s the second straight season that the BCS top 10 has five unbeaten teams with five weeks to go in the regular season. Last season, Auburn became the first team from a conference with an automatic BCS bid to go undefeated in the regular season and not play in the national-title game.

USC beat Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl and won the national championship. The Tigers finished 13-0 with a victory in the Sugar Bowl and were ranked No. 2. Utah (12-0) also finished the season unbeaten.

“The (BCS has) got to hope there’s not more than two undefeated teams at the end or they’ve screwed up again, very honestly,” Brown said. “That’s what they’ve got to hope.”

USC has been No. 1 in the Associated Press, coaches’ and Harris Interactive polls all season, but last week Texas inched ahead in the BCS standings because the computer rankings favored the Longhorns. It marked the first time in the past two seasons USC was not No. 1 in the BCS standings.

Texas is tops in the computer rankings again this week, but USC’s 55-13 victory over Washington State helped boost the Trojans’ computer score enough for them to reclaim first.