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There was one question everyone wanted answered during Thursday’s Pac-10 Media Day at LAX: Will this be the year USC finally ends its three-year run atop the Pac-10 standings?

Judging by the responses of the other Pac-10 football coaches, one might think so, but UCLA coach Karl Dorrell was not so quick to count out the Trojans.

“Sure, they lost two Heisman winners in Bush and Leinart,” Dorrell said. “But they are reloading at all positions, and their defense might even be better than it was last year.

“It’s our job, as well as the other schools in the Pac-10, to get to their level.

“As it is right now, they are what everyone in the Pac-10 compares themselves to.”

As expected, the Trojans were favored by the writers in the preseason poll to win the Pac-10, but unlike in past years, the Trojans were not unanimous favorites, and there are some other formidable challengers looking to make their mark.

California, for one, is listed in the AP pre-season top 10 and has a legitimate Heisman candidate in running back Marshawn Lynch.

Cal will get a chance to prove itself right away as it opens on the road against national powerhouse Tennessee.

“We feel we have just as a good chance as ever to compete for the Pac-10 title,” Cal coach Jeff Tedford said. “We have a lot of skill and experience returning on both sides of the ball.”

But it’s not only Cal that feels it has a chance, as coaches such as Dorrell and Arizona’s Mike Stoops are now entering their fourth year and feel they have a lot to prove.

“From top to bottom, I think the conference has a chance to be the most competitive it has been,” Stoops said. “There are a lot of teams making improvement, and it’s setting up to be one of the best years in a long time.”

After USC and Cal as the top two of the Pac-10 preseason poll, Oregon, Arizona State and UCLA round out the top five.

Arizona State returns with the nation’s leader in pass efficiency in sophomore Rudy Carpenter, while Oregon brings in a new quarterback in Dennis Dixon to a team that finished 10-2 last season.

And as for UCLA, who went 10-2 and finished third in the Pac-10, being listed fifth in the preseason poll is not a sign of decline, according to coach Dorrell.

“We have been predicted fifth before, and we’re not fazed by that,” Dorrell said.

“We just have to go out and prove it again. We can’t worry about what the writers think.

“Their impression of us will be based on our performance on the field.”

Based on the optimism that Dorrell and all the other coaches are showing it looks like this year might finally have a Pac-10 race, rather than simply a USC coronation.

ROUND-ROBIN SCHEDULE: This year will be the first time all NCAA teams will be playing 12 regular-season games, and thus every team in the Pac-10 will now be facing every other team in round-robin schedule.

“I like the full slate of games, it’s most equitable,” Oregon State coach Mike Riley said. “You can count on the sequence, and I like the 12-game schedule.”

Last year, in a revolving schedule, UCLA did not play Oregon.