STANFORD, Calif. — Oregon State coach Mike Riley's motivation to win comes out of fear.

After his team beat Stanford on Saturday, 30-7, he no longer needs to worry about one thing. The Beavers will be going to a bowl game no matter what happens over the next two weeks.

"I'm always scared about winning and going to bowl games," Riley said. "This team has risen from the ashes and one of these days we'll find out where we're going in the postseason."

The most likely scenario has the Beavers going to the Sun Bowl in El Paso, with a possible rematch with Notre Dame, whom OSU beat in its last bowl appearance in the 2004 Insight Bowl, or a Big 10 team.

"This team wasn't satisfied with the way they played last week," Riley said. "What helped this team was losing and Stanford winning. The team felt they had to get this thing done."

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Oregon State (7-4, 5-3 Pac-10) had to recover from a poor start. The Beavers were called for holding on the opening kickoff and had to start their first drive from their own 10. The drive stalled with a net gain of 4 yards.

Stanford needed two plays to grab a 7-0 lead in the first four minutes. It was the first time the Cardinal scored first in a game.

"That was a little bit scary," said Riley. "We had too many penalties but there were other good things. We stayed after them defensively."

Senior strong safety Sabby Piscitelli recovered from his own poor beginning to record six tackles, two for losses, as the Beavers shut out the Cardinal the rest of the way.

Piscitelli missed the final tackle on Anthony Kimble, who raced 36 yards for Stanford's lone score.

"There were some plays we didn't make," he said. "I missed that tackle and that was a good slap in the face, a good wake-up call."

With Oregon's loss to Arizona, the Beavers are guaranteed no worse than a third-place tie in the Pac-10.

Oregon State, which will finish with a winning record in the Pac-10 for just the third time in school history, will be going to its fourth bowl game in five years and sixth since 1999.

"It's nice to know the whole bowl situation is in place," said OSU quarterback Matt Moore, who now owns the longest active streak in the nation with 117 consecutive passes without an interception. "But we've got a big one next week. We're still hungry and ready to keep it going."

Running back Yvenson Bernard went over 1,000 rushing yards for the second straight season and moved into fourth place on the Beavers' all-time list with 2,375 yards.

CIVIL WAR: Senior tight end Joe Newton, who hails from Roseburg, doesn't think Oregon State needs much extra motivation for its game against Oregon on Friday.

A victory would put Oregon State alone in third place, with a possibility of finishing in a second-place tie. A 6-3 conference record would also be the program's second-best mark ever in Pac-10 play to the 2000 team which finished 7-1.

"It's a special game for us no matter what the situation," said Newton, who had a couple of balls thrown his way but did not catch a pass. "If we could have any more possible motivation, that would be it. But really, it's a heated rivalry and the intensity level will be huge."

The Beavers have won the past four Civil Wars played in Corvallis, and with the remodeled Reser Stadium, will surely draw more than the 41,600 fans which witnessed the 1980 contest, currently the largest crowd to see a Civil War in Corvallis.

"It's my last Pac-10 game as a senior and it's a great rivalry," Piscitelli said. "We expect to get more than seven wins. We have to carry our momentum over into Friday and get another big win for Oregon State."

Moore will be playing in his first Civil War. He was injured in last year's loss to Stanford and missed the contest.

"Obviously it's big time," he said. "We'll be motivated."

HIGHLIGHT REEL: Sophomore wide receiver Chris Johnson rarely sees the ball come his way so he wasn't about to waste his opportunity on Saturday. The transfer from Grossmont JC in San Diego had to reach behind him and make a one-handed catch that went for a first down and led to Alexis Serna's second field goal of the day.

"The ball was thrown on time but on my route I beat the defensive back bad," Johnson said. "The ball was supposed to come outside but I saw it all the way and was able to make the play."

Johnson has caught three passes all year and is still looking for his first collegiate touchdown.

He's already caught up in the Civil War rivalry.

"It means everything," he said. "People will be going crazy and it means a lot in the standings."