BERKELEY -- The Golden Bears looked like grizzlies, tearing off gains in big chunks. A 10-yard run, an 11-yard run, a 23-yard pass. The score: 7-7.
But with the Bears a single yard from putting a big, fat paw print on this game, the Trojans began to strut.
They held the Bears to a field goal. Soon, there was Chauncey Washington, galloping into the end zone to put USC up.
Back and forth the battle went, into the rain-swept night.
This was a rock-hard fight between two desperate teams. In the end, USC's finest trumped the boys from Berkeley for the fourth straight year.
But for some, it won't be enough.
Yes, USC won this game, 24-17. The Trojans showed they could stride into a stadium packed shoulder-to-shoulder with Bears fans and walk away with their thumbs up and grins wide.
Still, it won't calm some of the frayed, angry nerves of Troy. USC fans had dreamed of an undefeated season, 12 games of glory topped off with a bowl game victory, a national title. Instead: eight victories and two losses so far, including an unimaginable upset by Stanford.
Now there's Bear blood, but Tommy Trojans who live astride white horses still aren't likely to be satisfied.
Come on. Get real. Gin up courage. Gain some perspective. Sure, USC is not what anyone thought it would be. The greatest college football team ever? A whisper from another lifetime. But this is still a good team. It is still a team that has a chance at the Rose Bowl.
John David Booty's fault? Patrick Turner's fault?
These are college kids who give heart and soul, and they don't deserve the backbiting.
This season has been so unpredictable that it's impossible to guess what's going to happen from here. Even if they lose, as they well might on Thanksgiving against Arizona State, and even if they fall to another upset at the hands of UCLA, the Trojans will end the regular season no worse than 8-4. They will be in a bowl game. It might be the Weedeater Bowl, but a bowl it will be.
Think about it. There are 119 teams in the top tier of college football. Overall, USC has been the biggest beast among them for the last five years. In that span, they've have five top-four finishes in the rankings, five Pac-10 championships and two national titles. Even this year, the Trojans will be better than almost everyone else, regardless.
