USC linebacker Brian Cushing envisioned the scenario.
Nearing the end of an outstanding senior season, he would play one of his final games in one of college football's greatest intersectional rivalries. He would emerge from the Coliseum tunnel in front of more than 90,000 fans and lay it all on the line. . . .
For Notre Dame.
Occasionally, Cushing still finds it hard to believe he is a Trojan. So does his father, Frank.
Out of high school, Cushing was all but signed, sealed and delivered to join the Fighting Irish in South Bend, Ind. But when coach Tyrone Willingham and his staff were fired, the Irish-Catholic boy from New Jersey turned his attention west.
Too far west for his father's liking.
Four years later, though, the 6-foot-3, 255-pound Cushing is an All-American candidate for the Trojans, a top NFL prospect and a leader of one of the nation's best defenses.
On Saturday, he and USC's other seniors will play their final home game when the Trojans face Notre Dame in the rivalry's 80th game.
"It's crazy where the time went," Cushing said last week, reflecting on his career.
Said his father last month: "It could not have worked out any better."
While fellow senior linebacker Rey Maualuga has drawn more attention and is a finalist for several postseason awards, Cushing was the linebacker teammates voted a team captain.
While Maualuga turned in the highlight-reel play against Ohio State, returning an interception for a touchdown, Cushing was the linebacker who dominated the Buckeyes.
And when Maualuga sat out a game because of a knee injury, Cushing was the linebacker who slid over from the strong-side spot and started in the middle.
"He's just an old-fashioned football player that loves to play the game with all the grit and dirt and savvy," USC Coach Pete Carroll said.
That style has not always worked in Cushing's favor.
He played his freshman season in 2005 with a shoulder injury that required surgery. In 2007, ankle and knee injuries limited him, making the decision to return for a final season rather than turn pro a no-brainer.
This season, playing through a wrist injury and assorted bumps and bruises, he is second behind Maualuga with 60 tackles and also has 2 1/2 sacks and four pass breakups.
"There's only one speed with him so you're going to take the good with the bad," Trojans linebackers coach Ken Norton Jr. said. "He's going to knock you out and then he's going to hurt himself trying to knock you out. That's just kind of part of it."
