HONOLULU (Ticker) -- June Jones' job on the islands is to resurrect a floundering Hawaii program, but his first chore will be to help the Rainbows snap their national-long 17-game losing streak as No. 21 Southern California visits Aloha Stadium.

Jones, Hawaii's 20th head coach, previously has been the head man of the NFL's Atlanta Falcons and most recently was the interim coach of the San Diego Chargers. The 46-year-old has returned to his alma mater during the worst of times.

The Rainbows suffered through an 0-11 campaign in 1998 and dropped their final six games of the 1997 season. Their last victory came on November 11, 1997, a 28-16 triumph over Fresno State.

Hawaii will have 12 chances to win this season and is making just three trips to the mainland, September 25 to Southern Methodist, October 23 to Tulsa and November 6 to San Jose State.

While winning this game would be nice, it would take a monumental effort for the Rainbows to knock off the talented Trojans, who are coming off an 8-5 season that ended in a disappointing 28-19 loss to Texas Christian in the Sun Bowl.

Paul Hackett's star in his second season at the helm of the Men of Troy is R. Jay Soward, who is developing into one of the nation's best wide receivers. The 5-11 senior caught 44 passes for 679 yards and six touchdowns last season.

"I can't imagine there are many receivers in this country better than him," Notre Dame coach Bob Davie said of Soward. "He reminds me an awful lot of (current New England Patriot) Terry Glenn, who played at Ohio State. He's an excellent return man and a game-breaker player."

"I just have faith in him that he's going to go up and get the ball," Trojans sophomore quarter Carson Palmer said. "He's so fast, opponents have to respect his speed, but they can't overplay him. If you're expecting a deep catch, he'll take a quick hitch and outrun you. He's so hard to tackle in the open field."

As a true freshman, Palmer completed 55 percent (130-of-235) of his passes for 1,755 yards and seven touchdowns with six interceptions. Soward and tight end Antoine Harris give him two quality options and senior running back Chad Morton will help alleviate any pressure.

USC has made three prior trips to Hawaii to play the Rainbows and emerged with a victory each time -- 52-0 in 1930, 38-6 five seasons later and 21-5 in 1978.

The Trojans are 75-23-8 all-time in season openers, posting 35 shutout victories. They are 20-7-1 in season openers on the road.

USC Season schedule and results	HAWAII Season schedule and results
Sep. 4 @Hawaii TBA Sep. 18 San Diego State 3:30pm ET Sep. 25 @Oregon 10:15pm ET Oct. 2 Oregon State TBA Oct. 9 @Arizona TBA Oct. 16 @Notre Dame 2:30pm ET Oct. 23 Stanford TBA Oct. 30 @California TBA Nov. 6 Arizona State TBA Nov. 13 @Washington State 7:00pm ET Nov. 20 UCLA TBA Nov. 26 Louisiana Tech 6:30pm ET	Sep. 4 USC TBA Sep. 11 Eastern Illinois 12:00pm ET Sep. 18 Boise State 11:00pm ET Sep. 25 @SMU 3:00pm ET Oct. 2 UTEP TBA Oct. 9 Rice 12:05pm ET Oct. 23 @Tulsa 3:00pm ET Oct. 30 TCU 12:05pm ET Nov. 6 @San Jose State 3:30pm ET Nov. 13 Fresno State TBA Nov. 20 Navy TBA Nov. 27 Washington State TBA