The game film shows Apisa, a 212-pound sophomore fullback from Honolulu, running parallel to the line of scrimmage, fighting off defenders Dallas Grider and Jim Colletto, then getting tackled by a flying Stiles, a 5-foot-8, 175-pound junior, who slams into Apisa's upper body and brings him down.
"I saw Stiles all the way," Apisa said. "My intent was to run right into or over him, and flush him into the end zone.
"The guy I never saw and who set me up for Stiles was Colletto. He got his arm on my right shoulder and was pulling me, making me run parallel to the goal line. I couldn't turn, and that's when Stiles hit me.
"The quarterback was Jimmy Raye. The play was called 'option pitch.' If the defensive end came up to me, Raye was to cut and take it in himself. The end went to Raye, and I got the pitch.
"The thing I remember most vividly about the play was the explosion of crowd noise, but I didn't know if it was Michigan State cheers for a touchdown or UCLA cheers. I didn't know if I'd made it in or not."
Apisa was asked how often, decades later, his thoughts drift back to that play.
"I could probably forget about it if it weren't for people reminding me about it all the time," he said.
"I work with a lot of UCLA people in the film business, and there are a lot of UCLA lawyers and dentists where I work out. They make sure I never forget about it."
Recalled Stiles:
"I had a sense of 'it's now or never' on that play. UCLA had never won in the Rose Bowl, and we all felt enormous pressure. I was certain Apisa would try to run it in, and I was sure he'd go right.
"He's right about Colletto. If it hadn't been for him, I doubt if I'd have been able to bring him down."
The game film reveals clearly that UCLA's team used everything in its tank that day. When Stiles knocks Apisa down, there is little celebration--coach Tommy Prothro's players simply stand, seemingly stunned, or bend over with exhaustion.
As UCLA ran out the clock following the kickoff, the Spartans could only watch in disbelief.
"I remember thinking, 'This can't be happening,' " Apisa said. "But when we talked it out later, we all agreed we should have seen it coming.
"In the first place, we'd already played UCLA and beaten them. We wanted to play 'SC because they had the Heisman winner."
(UCLA had upset USC, 20-16, on Nov. 21, 1965, despite Mike Garrett's 210-yard rushing day. Two days later, he was awarded the Heisman Trophy. The day before the Rose Bowl game, he signed a $350,000 deal with the Kansas City Chiefs.)
