Put aside all records, rankings and third-down conversion ratios: The key to USC's defeating Arizona State on Saturday may come down to where the visiting fans park.
This was a rallying-cry issue in 1996, when college football's last want-to-be dynasty, Nebraska, barnstormed into Tempe.
Bruce Snyder remembers as if it were last Tuesday.
He was Arizona State's coach, riding the bus into his own lot -- ASU administration and staff only! -- only to discover that Nebraska fans had turned VIP parking into a Cornhusker tailgate party.
A few Sun Devils, led by linebacker Pat Tillman -- yes, \o7that\f7 Pat Tillman -- had to be restrained from diving head-first into the potato salad.
"I've never had a team stand up in the middle aisle like that, just yelling and screaming," Snyder recalled this week.
Arizona State shut out No. 1 Nebraska that night, 19-0, and started a Jake Plummer-led run that ended with a heartbreak defeat to Ohio State in the Rose Bowl.
Consider the similarities between No. 1 Nebraska and No. 1 USC:
* Nebraska was seeking to become the first school to win three national titles in a row.
So is USC.
* Nebraska came in with a 26-game winning streak.
USC has won 25 in a row.
* Arizona State was ranked No. 17 in the Associated Press poll.
Arizona State is No. 14.
* The year before, Nebraska routed Arizona State in Lincoln, 77-28.
Last year, USC routed Arizona State in Los Angeles, 45-7.
* The week after it beat Nebraska, Arizona State played Oregon.
Next week, Arizona State plays Oregon.
* Nebraska was coached by Tom Osborne.
Arizona State has an assistant named Tom Osborne, no relation.
"The parallels," Snyder said, "are eerie."
Of course, it's going to take more than coincidence and precedent for Arizona State to pull off the upset this time.
Nebraska, like USC, was the dominant team of its era. The Cornhuskers finished 11-2 in 1996, then won a share of the 1997 national title, the team's third in four years.
"I think this USC team is better than that Nebraska team," Snyder said. "But ... anything can happen."
Sam Keller, the quarterback leading Arizona State against USC, says the events of 1996 are "irrelevant" in terms of winning Saturday.
There are, however, valuable psychological lessons to be culled.
Juan Roque, the star offensive tackle on the 1996 ASU team, remembers the key to beating Nebraska that year was not getting caught up in the hype.
